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.