By rosebell
Considering that Webuild is due to launch three more TBMs in Italy, it is taking to 40 the number it will soon have working in the country.
Digging the new tunnels the Naples-Bari high-speed railway line and the Catania-Messina high-capacity line, the two TBMs that were launched at the same time.
While excavation of the 6.4km-long Rocchetta Tunnel on the Apice-Hirpinia lot was uup to TBM Futura with 12m diameter, TBM Marina has commissioned to dig the 10km-long Orsara Tunnel on the Orsara-Bovino section. With a cutterhead of around 10m diameter, TBM Marina will use continuous mining to speed up the works.
As advancing other works along the Naples-Bari line by Webuild, on the Apice-Hirpinia section, excavation of the Grottaminarda Tunnel is around 90% complete, and on the Naples-Cancello section, boring in the Casalnuovo Ttunnel continue in hyperbaric conditions – a technique being used for the first time in Italy.
Also it is scheduled to launch another TBM for the Orsara Tunnel by the end of the year.
Being inaugurated in 2028, the new 145km-long Naples-Bari will measure in total 145 km, halving the current journey time between the two cities.
Additionally, excavation of the 6.1km-long Taormina Tunnel in Sicily is up to TBM Lucia has, while it has diameter of more than 9m, and also uses continuous mining.
Webuild is engaged on seven projects for the 200km-long Palermo-Catania-Messina line, which includes 175km of tunnels.
