MILAN, September 17, 2023 – The second giant tunnel-boring machine (TBM) that Webuild will use for the development of the high-capacity railway between Messina and Catania in Sicily, Italy has been unveiled after it passed the Factory Acceptance Test (FAT). The TBM, fitted with the latest technology to make it operate in the most environmentally sustainable way possible, has a diametre of 9.36 metres and a weight of nearly 900 tonnes. It will contribute to the construction of a section of the Palermo-Messina-Catania line commissioned by Rete Ferroviaria Italiana (RFI), the infrastructure arm of state rail operator Gruppo FS Italiane, as part of an infrastructure plan for the sustainable development of the island and make the transport of people and goods faster and more efficient.

The TBM will be dismantled at the factory in the coming days and shipped to Webuild’s construction site in Sicily. It is expected to arrive in January. A team of technicians will reassemble it there.

The TBM not only excavates a tunnel with a rotating shield at the front, but also lines the walls with pre-cast concrete segment. As it passes, it leaves behind a nearly complete tunnel. In the last 50 years, Webuild has put into operation nearly 200 TBMs to excavate more than 1,500 kilometres of tunnels.

The innovation that Webuild is bringing to the project in Sicily is making its execution more sustainable, as the Group works closely with the local supply chain. At Belpasso near Catania, it has set up a factory whose production of pre-cast concrete segments is completely automated. It will have robots make the segments for the tunnels along the two sections, or lots, assigned to the Group between Catania and Messina. A first in Italy, the factory will be able to produce a segment every seven minutes – instead of the usual 10 when done by humans.

Along the planned Palermo-Catania-Messina railway, Webuild is working on seven sections, or lots, along with other Italian companies. In addition to Fiumetorto-Lercara Junction for Palermo-Catania, there is also the Bicocca-Catenanuova and Nuova Enna-Dittaino. More recently, there has been added the Caltanissetta Xirbi-Nuova Enna and Lercara-Caltanissetta Xirbi. Between Messina and Catania, the Group is doing Taormina-Giampilieri and Fiumefreddo-Taormina/Letojanni. Work on the seven sections is creating 7,300 jobs directly and indirectly with the involvement of approximately 800 businesses.