By rosebell
The tunnel is the last of three on the 18.7km Apice–Hirpinia section, which Webuild is constructing for infrastructure manager RFI. Around 13km, or almost 70%, of the section is in tunnel.
The drive is being undertaken by the 12.5m-diameter TBM Aurora, which previously excavated the approximately 2km-long Grottaminarda Tunnel. Following completion of that drive, the 100m-long, 1,600t machine was dismantled to cross the Ufita River before being reassembled for the Melito excavation.
Powered by 18 motors delivering a combined 6.3MW, Aurora will operate at depths of up to 130m beneath the Southern Apennines. During the drive it will install more than 22,200 precast concrete segments to form the tunnel’s permanent lining. More than 140 personnel will support round-the-clock TBM operations.
Melito is the second-longest tunnel on the section. The 6.5km Rocchetta Tunnel was completed in May by the project’s second TBM, Futura, following an 18-month drive.
The Apice–Hirpinia works also include construction of Hirpinia Station, where the main civil works have been completed and construction of access roads and parking facilities is continuing.
Webuild is delivering four sections of the 145km Naples–Bari programme: Naples–Cancello, Apice–Hirpinia, Hirpinia–Orsara and Orsara–Bovino. The Naples–Cancello section opened in July, providing a connection to Italy’s national high-speed network at Afragola station.
The new Naples–Bari railway forms part of the Scandinavian–Mediterranean Corridor of the TEN-T network and is intended to improve rail connections between Campania and Puglia and links between southern Italy and the wider European network.
