High Speed Tunnel Starts in BolognaPietro Lunardi, the Italian minister for infrastructure and transport, Vasco Errani, the president of the Emilia-Romagna region, Vittorio Prodi, the president of the Bologna province, Giorgio Guazzaloca, the mayor of Bologna, and Giancarlo Cimoli, president and CEO of Ferrovie dello Stato, the Italian railways, attended on 25th June a launch ceremony of the first TBM that will drive the first of two parallel single-track high speed tunnels under Bologna. The second EPB shield is under assembly. This is the first city underground crossing to be dug for the high speed lines in Italy.The 2 x 6,120 m tunnels, featuring a 9.4 m outer diameter and 8.3 m inner diameter, will run from San Ruffillo to the rolling stock depot at Fascio Salesiani, which will be connected to the new underground high speed train station near the Central Station by a 120 m tunnel. Connecting passages between the two bores will be dug every 250 m. The contracting JV is formed by Necso, Salini and Ghella while Italferr is responsible for the work management. For tunnelling, the JV will be using two Lovat EPB TBMs. The machines are 195 m-long each with an installed power of 4,000 kW and a maximum thrust of 100,000 kN. The shields weigh 550 tonnes. The daily advance speed is expected to reach 8-12 m. The two TBMs start in the 15 m-deep x 25 m-wide x 150 m-long San Ruffillo launch box, south of the city. The contract also includes a 980 m cut-and-cover tunnel to the twin tunnels, a four-basement underground car park, an emergency access to the two tunnels and the 120 m tunnel between them and the future high speed station. The tunnels will take 30 months to build and opening is scheduled in 2007. The job is worth €193 million. Visit www.lovat.com and www.tav.it 27/03.