On 03/03/2022 the ceremony for the beginning of construction of the Cefalù tunnel was held.
The tunnel will be the longest of the 3 tunnels for the doubling of the Cefalù/Ogliastrillo - Castelbuono section, on the Palermo - Messina railway line. The contract - awarded by Rete Ferroviaria Italiana (FS Italiane Group) to a consortium led by Toto Costruzioni Generali - has a value of over EUR370 million.
The completion of the Ogliastrillo - Castelbuono section, along with the Palermo Punta Raisi extension (already in operation), will increase the potential transport service relating to the Palermo railway junction and the direct connection between the tourist center of Cefalù with the Punta Raisi airport.
Once fully launched the TBM Margherita will drive the 13 km twin-tube Cefalù tunnel. The expected average advancement will be 16 m / day with peaks of over 20 m / day. The TBM, 140 m long, with a weight of 1650 t and a total power of 5.6 MW, is 10 m diameter and equipped with over 60 cutting edges.
A highly specialized team with about 100 people will work on the excavation, mostly on board the machine, in three shifts a day, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Another 350 workers will be engaged in auxiliary activities on the site. The completion of the tunnel works is expected by November 2024, while the completion of the doubling of the railway line is scheduled for 2025.
To deal with the complex geology of the Madonie, the TBM has been designed with a dual set-up (dual mode) so that it can operate both in open mode on the rocky fronts, and in EPB mode to consolidate the excavation face in the most yielding soils.
Approximately 8,000 t of iron, 2,500 t of iron fibers and 77,000 m3 of concrete will be used for each tube in the tunnel. The over 1 million m3 extracted muck will be largely reused and fill the former Roccalupa quarry.
In the nearby prefabrication plant - specifically built and dedicated to the project - the production of over 40,000 segments for the lining of the two tunnels has already begun.
The contract awarded to the ATI led by Toto includes, in addition to the construction with mechanized excavation of the Cefalù tunnel, the NATM construction of the Sant'Ambrogio (3975 m) and Malpertugio (138 m) tunnels currently at 68% and 41% completed, new stops Cefalù and Castelbuono , three railway viaducts and five level crossings. The construction of the decks for the two viaducts located between the entrances of the Sant’Ambrogio and Cefalù tunnels is also underway.
For more information, click here and it/36 for the tunnelbuilder archive. Visit https://www.rfi.it/ and https://totospa.it . 09/22.
