Innovation & sustainability for infrastructure at the largest Italian exhibition dedicated to construction and plant engineering, ending today

• A thematic focus goes to the Brenner Base Tunnel, Line C of Rome's Metro C and the Moncenisio Base Tunnel, strategic projects for Italy, with innovation, sustainability, and skill at the core.

• The three projects at the heart of Piazza Tunneling SIG, an initiative coordinated by Società Italiana Gallerie the Italian Tunneling Association within the SAIE exhibition to bring more value to premium companies and strategic themes in the tunnelling sector.

Milan, Oct. 22, 2022 – Axel, the intelligent rover used to explore the Magdalena Tunnel in Chiomonte, but also the construction challenges for the underground works of Line C of Rome's Metro and the Isarco River Undercrossing of the Brenner Base Tunnel. These are the projects being showcased that focus on tunnelling at Bologna's SAIE, the large exhibition dedicated to the construction sector's supply chain and engineering systems, which sees construction excellence and innovation at its very core. The exhibition ended today. Strategic projects for Italy and benchmark best cases for the industry that, by building on the experience and applied expertise of the Webuild Group and its supply chain, contribute to increasing innovation in the sector, making the mobility of both people and goods in Italy more sustainable and faster. 

The three projects were in the spotlight of the in-depth focus foreseen in Piazza Tunneling SIG, the initiative that brings value to the strategic themes of the tunnelling sector, which is coordinated by SIG (Società Italiana Gallerie), also with the participation of the infrastructure managers and engineering companies. 

Axel (Autonomous Exploration Electrifed Vehicle) is a highly innovative remotely driven system, used to safely inspect tunnels. Commissioned by the Webuild Group, the prototype was built by the Turin-based company CIM (Competence Industry Manufacturing 4.0, one of Italy's leading Competence Centres) to address the specific need to explore a 3-kilometre-long tunnel within the "Nicchie La Maddalena" construction site in Chiomonte, reducing risks for workers. Webuild, at the construction site, part of the Moncenisio Base Tunnel project, works with CSC constructions SA (Webuild Group).

Rome's Line C Metro, which Webuild is building in a consortium, stands out for the choices applied, in design and construction terms, which are strongly linked to the challenges foreseen by the territorial peculiarities. The new metro line, in fact, connects Rome, from East to West, passing through historical neighbourhoods with a strong archaeological footprint. To build it, cutting-edge technical and engineering skills were used, also to safeguard the archaeological and monumental heritage that is present along the route.

For the Brenner Base Tunnel, Webuild is currently involved in building two lots on the Italian side (H71 "Isarco River Underpass" and the H61 “Mules 2-3”) and one lot on the Austrian side (H41 "Gola del Sill-Pfons"). For the Isarco River Underpass, innovative techniques such as soil freezing were used. This technique is used when there is a lot of water in the ground which could compromise the excavation works. To be extremely succinct, the freezing is carried out by injecting liquid nitrogen in the ground at a temperature of minus 196 degrees Celsius. This is done to create a frozen shell that is waterproof so that the following excavation stage can be carried out safely.

Today, Webuild is active in Italy with 27 large infrastructure projects, built with a supply chain of 8.000 companies. Among its most significant projects, the Naples-Bari High-Speed and the Verona-Padua High Speed/High-Capacity railway lines.