On the 19/03/2022 the new three lane Barberino di Mugello - Florence North section of the A1 motorway was officially opened to traffic. The new 17.5km road is a continuation of the Variante di Valico.
The inauguration took place in Barberino in the presence of the Chairman and CEO of Autostrade per l'Italia, Giuliano Mari and Roberto Tomasi, the Presidents of the Regions of Tuscany and Emilia Romagna as well as the mayors of the municipalities involved in the project with the deferred participation of the Minister for Infrastructure and Sustainable Mobility, Enrico Giovannini.
The new 17.5 km section has three 3.75 m lanes, plus an emergency lane in the open-air sections. The project is part of the wider development plan of the Tuscan part of the Autostrada del Sole, between the Barberino and Valdarno junctions, covering a total of 120 km.
The project had a total investment of about 1 billion Euros, and included 4 main infrastructures, two tunnels and two viaducts: the Santa Lucia tunnel (about 7,750 m), one of the largest in the world with 3 lanes, equipped with advanced high-tech systems and excavated with an EPB TBM of about 16 m in diameter.
In addition to the two new tunnels, there were artificial access tunnels (North and South) created, a freeway platform (in the sections outside the tunnels), together with the installation of technical cabins and ventilation systems by Zitron.
The tunnels in the project have the most innovative safety equipment for the digital monitoring of real time traffic and for emergencies. The tunnel stands out as it has the latest innovative technologies that ensure high safety standards and better management of traffic and critical events. The Baccheraia Viaduct (135 m) and the Marinella Viaduct (550 m) were also built on the new route, as well as the Boscaccio Tunnel (2,000 m).
Click here for a film about the project, here and it/268 for the tunnelbuilder archive further information can be found here at https://www.pavimental.it/ and https://www.autostrade.it/. 11/22.
