Italferr awarded two contracts for soil investigation to the maximum depth of 150 metres (continuous drill cores, shafts, etc.) to characterize the ground for the final design of the Fiumefreddo-Giampilieri railway dualling. Geomerid received a EUR385,000 contract for Area 1 (16.2 km) and SO.RI.GE. a EUR571,000 contract for Area 2 (25.5 km). Visit www.geomerid.it and www.sorige.itThe alignment in design is for the dualling of the Fiumefreddo-Giampilieri section (42,395 m) on the Messina-Siracusa line, consisting of a deviation from the existing line that will require 10 new bored tunnels spanning in total 36,086 m (nearly 85% of the section). From Fiumefreddo (in Catania province), the tunnels will be as follows: Calatabiano (5,687.5 m), Taormina (7,980 m), Letojanni (3,898 m), Forza D'Agrí² (2,435 m), Quartarello (2,816 m), Sciglio (5,681 m), Nizza (510 m), Alí¬ (147 m), Quali (4,199 m) and Scaletta (2,733 m).When the tunnel length is more than 2 km, the tunnels will be twin bores with a single track per tube. If less than this length, then the tunnels will be dual-track single tubes. For single-track tunnels, the internal section will be 41.2 sq m if traditional method are used and 53.85 sq m if mechanised tunnelling is employed. Dual-track tunnels will feature a section of about 76.1 sq m. Read a complete file on the project here (in Italian). Visit www.italferr.it 07/06.

Open invitation to tender, deadline 02/12/2020, for the detailed design and construction of the  Giampilieri- Fiumefreddo railway dualling, lot 1 Fiumefreddo - Taormina/Letojanni, on the Messina-Catania line. Duration of the contract is 3430 days. The value of the contract is EUR682.07 million, excluding VAT, 348.57  million of which is part of the OG4 category. Further information from click here and here. Contact RFI, attn Giuseppe Albanese , Rome, email fa.italiano@rfi.it.  Ref. n. DAC.0152.2020. 41/20.

Open invitation to tender, deadline 04/12/2020, for the detailed design and construction of the  Giampilieri- Fiumefreddo railway dualling, lot 2 Taormina-Giampilieri, on the Messina-Catania line. Duration of the contract is 3920 days. Value of the contract EUR1.11 billion, excluding VAT, 686.43 million of which part of the OG4 category. Further information  from click here and here. Contact RFI, attn Giuseppe Albanese , Rome, email fa.italiano@rfi.it.  Ref. n. DAC.0153.2020. 41/20. 

Postponed from 04/12/2020 to 12/01/2021 the deadline of the open invitation to tender for the detailed design and construction of the  Giampilieri- Fiumefreddo railway dualling, lot 2 Taormina-Giampilieri, on the Messina-Catania line. Duration of the contract is 3920 days. Value of the contract EUR1.11 billion, excluding VAT, 686.43 million of which part of the OG4 category. Further information  from click here and here. Contact RFI, attn Giuseppe Albanese , Rome, email fa.italiano@rfi.it.  Ref. n. DAC.0153.2020. 46/20. 

Awarded to RFI (Gruppo FS Italiane) part of the Joint Venture Webuild SpA (leader) with Impresa Pizzarotti & C SpA and Astaldi SpA and to the designer Joint Venture composed of Rocksoil SpA  with Proger SpA  and Pini Swiss Engineers Srl  is the EUR1.003 bn contract, excluding VAT,  for the detailed design and construction of the  Giampilieri- Fiumefreddo railway, lot 2 Taormina-Giampilieri, on the Messina-Catania line.

Work on the lot includes the construction of a new railway for 28.3 km that will include the civil and related works such as electrification, signalling and communications. It will also include the excavation of two natural single tunnels, six parallel tunnels and seven viaducts. The Taormina-Giampilieri lot will be part of a new line between Messina and Catania that will join the existing one ahead of the Fiumfreddo station, then reconnect it to at the Giampilieri station. Most of the line will be through tunnels and further away from the coast than the existing line. It will include a hub at Fiumefreddo, a new underground station at Taormina, five new open-air stops. The Letojanni station will remain.  Contact RFI, attn Giuseppe Albanese , Rome, email fa.italiano@rfi.it. For further information on the tender click here. Also visit - 

https://www.rfi.it/, https://www.webuildgroup.com/en/ and https://www.pizzarotti.it/english/default.aspx. Ref. n. DAC.0153.2020. 11/21. 

Rete Ferroviaria Italiana (Gruppo FS Italiane) awarded to the consortium composed of Webuild (leader 70%) and Pizzarotti (30%) the EUR640 million design-and-build contract, safety costs included,  for Fiumefreddo-Taormina/Letojanni Functional Lot 1 - a subsection of the Giampilieri-Fiumefreddo section of the railway.  The lot concerns work along 15 km of the railway between Messina and Catania, from Fiumefreddo to Taormina/Letojanni. It includes an interconnection at Taormina/Letojanni, the dismantling of installations along the existing line between Fiumefreddo and the link with the old line. The latest contract will also involve the construction of an underground station at Taormina, an artificial tunnel at Fiumefreddo, three tunnels at Calatabiano, Letojanni and Taormina, and two viaducts at Fogliarino torrent and the Alcantara viaduct. 

Contact RFI, attn Giuseppe Albanese , Rome, email fa.italiano@rfi.it. Visit https://www.fsnews.it/ and  https://www.webuildgroup.com.  Ref. n. DAC.0152.2020. 25/21. 

The Joint Venture MeCtNord, composed of Webuild and Impresa Pizzarotti & Spa, have contracted to CRCHI, TBM Technology and Anbel the supply of a TBM EPB - 9.36 m diameter- to be used to excavate the 12.5km tunnel for the Giampilieri- Fiumefreddo railway, lot 2 Taormina-Giampilieri, on the Messina-Catania line, Sicily. These tunnels will cross weak rock formations with highly variable characteristics and behaviors along the route, that will require a frequently change to the operating mode, from close mode to open mode.   

Therefore, the TBM will have such characteristics as to be able to efficiently excavate long sections in the rocks, with cutter thrusts and cutter-head revolution speeds higher than the usual range of a standard EPB TBM.  Visit https://www.webuildgroup.com/, https://www.pizzarotti.it/, https://en.crchi.com//, https://www.tbm-technology.com/ and http://www.anbel.com/. 20/23.