Excavation has been completed on the Caterina Tunnel, forming a crucial part of Lot 1A of the Salerno-Reggio Calabria High-Speed/High-Capacity Railway, a strategic project that will connect southern Italy with northern Italy and Europe.
The work on Lot 1A is currently being carried out by a consortium led by Webuild, which is under contract from RFI (FS Italiane Group).
The consortium working on Lot 1A is led by Webuild
© Webuild
At over 1km long; the tunnel was excavated by tunnel-boring machine (TBM) Mireille, which, powered by 11 engines generating 3,850 kW of power, weighs in at 1,200 tonnes, and is equipped with a cutterhead over 10 metres in diameter.
Operation of the machine requires the support of more than 100 specialised technicians, all of which were in attendance seven days a week in line with strict safety protocols.
Following the excavation on the Grand Prix Express; Mireille became the first TBM to be refurbished at a Webuild facility in Umbria, which strives to give new life to large excavation machines.
Over the course of the coming months, the TBM will now undertake a complex 400-metre relocation to reach the future entrance to the Sicignano Tunnel, where it will excavate a section more than 2.5km, marking another step toward completing the 35km railway between the cities of Battipaglia and Romagnano in the province of Salerno.
Elsewhere, additional construction work is well underway, with the excavation of the 450-metre-long Cerreta Tunnel proceeding at full speed using traditional methods, as well as the construction of abutments and piers of future viaducts ahead of the launch of the steel decks that will allow TBMs to move to the next excavation site.
There are three additional TBMs at work on Lot 1A, with Mireille joined by Partenope, Leucosia, and Ligea. Currently, Partenope is travelling through the hills of the Sele Valley, excavating the 3km Saginara Tunnel between the towns of Campagna and Contursi Terme; Leucosia is working on the Serra Lunga Tunnel (over 800 metres) before heading for the Acerra (250 metres) and Petrolla (over 1.2km) tunnels; whilst Ligea is busy excavating the Piano Grasso Tunnel (2.2km) before starting on the Contursi Tunnel (1.5km).
Once completed, Lot 1A will include feature 20 tunnels and 19 viaducts, with the project employing more than 1,400 people, including direct staff and subcontractors. When operational, the Salerno–Reggio Calabria line will become a strategic axis of the Scandinavian-Mediterranean Corridor of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T).