By lyndamyer
CREC 1403, which is an explosion-proof EPBM for Lot 4A of the Palermo-Catania railway and was manufactured by CREG at its factory in Tianjin, China, has passed its Factory Acceptance Test.
With almost 251m length, around 2300 tonnes weight and a diameter of 9.48m, this EPBM has a double-shell shield to address the challenging disassembly of the machine in the tunnel.
The energy-saving technology, an invert cast-in-place system and an intelligent maintenance system, are the advantages of this TBM, while the explosion-proof design meets ATEX and CE standards.
The Montestretto, Salso and Trinacria tunnels, with a maximum rock strength of 13MPa and a depth of 150m, are the contents of Lot 4A. The geology is mainly mucky clay, argillaceous clay, diatomite, diatomaceous marl, chalk and chalky clay.
The Webuild (leader), that is Webuild subsidiary SELI Overseas, Ghella and Ghella subsidiary TunnelPro, recieved the Lot 4A contract, for the Caltanissetta Xirbi to Nuova Enna section of the Sicilian railway in April last year.
As part of the Scandinavian-Mediterranean Corridor of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T), the new Palermo-Catania-Messina axis is a strategic project for Sicily and Italy and is slated to decrease travel times between Palermo and Catania by 60 minutes to two hours.
