SALERNO (ITALPRESS) – The first of the 4 TBMs (Tunnel Boring Machine) destined for the excavation of the tunnels planned on the route of Lot 1A Battipaglia-Romagnano of the Salerno-Reggio Calabria high-speed railway, on which the Xenia consortium led by Webuild is engaged on behalf of RFI (Italian FS Group).After its arrival by ship in Salerno, the giant TBM will be transported to the site where the assembly activities will be carried out, which will last from two to three months. The TBM will then be used to excavate 3 kilometers of the Saginara tunnel, between the municipalities of Campagna and Contursi Terme (SA), working 24 hours a day, seven days a week. A total of more than 100 highly specialized people will be employed for its operation and maintenance.About 130 meters long and weighing about 4,000 tons, the TBM that arrived in Salerno is equipped with 18 motors generating a power of 10 megawatts. With a milling head with a diameter of 13.46 meters, this TBM is the largest used in Italy and Europe by Webuild, the world’s leading underground excavation group, which to date boasts a fleet of about 60 moles including those in operation, being assembled, ordered and to be ordered for ongoing projects.After the first mole arrived in Salerno, the arrival of the other three TBMs will follow in the coming months, allowing them to get into the thick of the work planned on the railway line construction site, financed with PNRR funds. Among the incoming TBMs is the one from the Grand Paris Express construction sites in Paris, the first to be “reconditioned” directly in Webuild’s innovative factory in Terni, a new industrial hub with high specialization in the regeneration of TBMs and other machinery. Webuild, with its subsidiary WEM (Webuild Equipment & Machinery) founded in 2024, is the first general contractor to remanufacture TBMs and Multi Service Vehicles (MSVs) for civil, infrastructure and marine use, with a view to a circular economy in the industry’s supply chains in Italy and around the world. The Group’s goal is to extend the useful life of highly innovative machinery. In Italy, a total of about 40 TBMs are planned for ongoing projects, including 30 in the South, an area of the country where Webuild is carrying out 19 projects involving the construction of more than 300 kilometers of new high-speed and high-capacity railway line and already employing 6.800 people, including both direct and third parties, with the involvement of about 4,300 companies in the supply chain since work began.The work on Lot 1A, entrusted to the Xenia Consortium composed of Webuild (leader of the consortium), Pizzarotti, Ghella and Tunnel Pro, is an integral part of the project to build the new Salerno-Reggio Calabria high-speed rail line. The route includes the executive design and construction of 35 kilometers of new railway line between the cities of Battipaglia and Romagnano, on which trains will travel at up to 300 kilometers per hour. A total of 20 tunnels (8 of which are to be excavated with the use of four TBMs), 19 viaducts, and at Romagnano a junction is planned to interconnect the new line with the existing line from Battipaglia to Metaponto and Potenza.Lot 1A of the new Salerno-Reggio Calabria HS line is among the strategic projects for the country’s sustainable mobility, also with a view to energy transition, which will help to unite the North and the South of the country, supporting the development and growth of the territories and promoting Italy’s competitiveness, making it increasingly interconnected with Europe.
– Webuild press office photo –
(ITALPRESS).
