At the end of July, Rocchetta and Orsara Tunnel works also started

TBM "Aurora" after having completed the Grottaminarda (AV) excavation works now prepares to also realize the "Melito" tunnel on the Apice-Hirpinia lot. 

The Naples-Bari railway line is among the 19 projects that Webuild is currently building in the South of Italy, which will ensure constructing a total of over 300 kilometres of new high-speed railway line

Grottaminarda (Avellino), September 5, 2024 - After traversing the "Appenino Meridionale" (Southern Apennines), the TBM "Aurora" has, for the time being, ended its journey. Excavation works in the Grottaminarda tunnel have in fact been completed. The latter is 2 kilometres long and is located on the Apice-Hiripinia lot of the high-speed Naples-Bari railway line. Works are being carried out by Webuild on behalf of RFI (FS Italiane Group). 

The completion of the tunnelling works for the Grottaminarda tunnel, on which Webuild has worked 24/7, is a significant leap forward for work advancement along the Naples-Bari route. The Grottaminarda tunnel is the first of the three tunnels foreseen on the Apice-Hirpinia lot, on the central section of the Naples-Bari route. It foresees building over 18 kilometres of railway line, of which approximately 13, underground, in a vast territory between the provinces of Avellino and Benevento, along a complex route, from a geotechnical and geomorphological perspective.

The TBM Aurora measures 100 metres in length and has 18 engines providing 6.3 MW of power. Its cutting head has a diameter of approximately 12.5 metres. The TBM, along its journey, beside excavating the tunnel, also completed its lining with precast concrete segments. The TBM Aurora, with the completion of the Grottaminarda tunnel, will be transferred on the other side of the Ufita river, where it will begin excavating a second tunnel for this lot, namely the "Melito" tunnel (that will be approximately 4.4 kilometres in length), starting the forthcoming year.  Excavation works have also started along the same lot, on the third tunnel of the section, namely the Rocchetta tunnel, which will measure approximately 6.4 kilometres in length. Said works already started last July, with the TBM "Futura", in the presence of the Italian Minster of Infrastructure and Transport Matteo Salvini, Webuild CEO Pietro Salini, and RFI CEO and GM Gianpiero Strisciuglio. 

The new high-speed, high-capacity Naples-Bari railway line will measure 145 kilometres in total. It is an integral part of the TEN-T Trans-European network, Scandinavian-Mediterranean Corridor. Once completed, it will be a strategic mobility infrastructure for the whole of the South of Italy. It will significantly reduce distances between the Campania and Puglia regions, and the rest of central-northern Italy. It will also connect the rest of Italy on the Eastern-Western sides. Once works on the entire line are completed, as foreseen in 2028, Naples and Bari will be connect in just 2 hours, against the current 4. And, already in 2025, as stated by RFI, it will be possible to travel directly between these two cities in just 2 hours and 40 minutes, without needing to change train. The new railway route will bring many benefits, also in environmental sustainability terms, allowing to avoid over 3 million tonnes of CO2 emissions during the 2023-2047 period. 

The Webuild Group along the Naples-Bari route is building 4 lots: the Naples-Cancello, Apice-Hirpinia, Hirpinia-Orsara and Orsara-Bovino ones, with over 1,900 people involved as of today, and with approximately 1,500 companies since works began. Webuild will build over 74 kilometres of new railway line, 6 tunnels, 10 viaducts and 6 between new stations and stops. 

Webuild's works, besides the Apice-Hirpinia section, also continue the other lots of the line. On the Orsara-Bovino section, at the end of July, excavation works of the even-numbered barrel of the Orsara tunnel began. Said tunnel extends for approximately 10 kilometres. By the end of the year, mechanized excavation works of the odd-numbered barrel of the same tunnel will also begin. On the Naples-Cancello section, in line with the forecasts, activities to build the Casalnuovo tunnel in hyperbaric conditions, an innovative sustainable technique used for the very first time in Italy, also continue. While, at the end of August, works to raise the last metal deck of the section also were completed. The deck weighs an overall 700 tonnes and allows passing over the "Asse Mediano" high-speed road near Afragola (Naples).

The Naples-Bari railway line is among the 19 projects that Webuild is currently building in the South of Italy, including the islands, which will ensure building a total of over 300 kilometres of new high-speed railway line. The Group, to build these projects, is working with a supply chain of 4,300 companies (since works started). As of today, it has engaged 6,800 people (direct and indirect personnel). These numbers will increase concomitantly to the advancement of the Groups' training and employment programme, "Cantiere Lavoro Italia", which aims at hiring 10 thousand people by 2026.