By Ashley Karen
Last week in Rome, the first stone laying for the future Venezia Station of Metro Line C was celebrated.
This exciting project is being commissioned by Roma Metropolitane and constructed by the Metro C S.c.p.a consortium, led by Webuild and Vianni Lavori. What makes this line particularly noteworthy is that it will be the first in the Italian capital to feature driverless trains.
The Venezia Station presents a unique engineering challenge, as it is positioned amid historic monuments and museums, with a constant flow of vehicular and pedestrian traffic.
Placed at the heart of the piazza with the same name, the station will boast eight levels below ground, with three entrances: two leading to Palazzo Venezia and Auditoria di Adriano, with escalators and a bank of elevators, and another towards Vittoriano with an open staircase. There will be a total of 27 escalators, with each level covering 4,500m2. The bottom one will reach a depth of around 45m, and the containment walls for the excavation will be up to 85m deep.
The Venezia Station project is designated to become a central hub for the museums in the area. Visitors will be able to access Palazzo Venezia and the Auditoria di Adriano, as well as the archeological area of the Imperial Fora. Additionally, the Vittoriano will be accessible through the station.
The first level of the station will be dedicated to showcasing artifacts uncovered during the excavation, with an estimated 66,000m3 of ground to be bored for archeological purposes. Recent discoveries include the remains of the Auditoria di Adriano, a two-storey public building dating back to the times of Emperor Hadrian (117-138 AD).
The ceremony held last week to mark the start of construction has observed esteemed guests such as Italian minister of transport and infrastructure Matteo Salvini, Rome mayor Roberto Gualtieri, extraordinary commissioner for Line C Maria Lucia Conti, and City of Rome council member for mobility Eugenio Patanè.
The Line C of the metro system in Rome will span 26km with 29 stations. Presently, 19km of Line is in process with 22 stations from Montecompatri/Pantano to San Giovanni.
The T3 section between San Giovanni and Colosseo/Fori Imperiali is under construction, with tunnels completed up to the future Venezia Station. Porta Metronia and Colosseo/Fori Imperiali stations are expected to be delivered by the second half of 2024. Also, four more stations beyond Venezia towards Clodio/Mazzini are being scheduled.
Italian suppliers make up 98% of the estimated 1,500 suppliers involved until now.
Line C will intersect with Line A at San Giovanni Station, and other junctions are planned for Colosseo on Line B, Venezia for the future Line D, and Ottaviano on Line A. Additionally, there is a proposed section from Clodio to Farnesina with two more stations.
