A Webuild-led consortium has won the contract to build the Santomarco Tunnel on the Salerno-Reggio Calabria high-speed railway.
The group, which also includes Ghella, Pizzarotti, and SELI, will deliver the €1.6bn contract that covers construction of the 22.2km Paola-Cosenza section. The main work in the project, commissioned by Rete Ferroviaria Italiana (RFI), is the 15km-long Santomarco Tunnel. The twin-tube, single-track structure will be excavated using four TBMs.
The new tunnel will be separated by about 100m from the existing single-track tunnel, which will be decommissioned once the work is complete.
The project aims to improve the capacity and efficiency of the railway connection between the Tyrrhenian coast and inland areas of Calabria, ensuring better accessibility to Cosenza and strengthening the Bari-Taranto-Gioia Tauro freight route.
The route will cross the Province of Cosenza, passing through the municipalities of Paola, San Lucido, Rende, Montalto Uffugo, San Vincenzo la Costa, and San Fili. A total of nine railway bridges and two viaducts are planned. One 350m-long viaduct will cross the A2 motorway; another 205m-long viaduct will cross the Settimo stream. A new station will be built in Montalto Uffugo to serve the territory and the university campus in Rende.
Webuild is already constructing the 35km-long Lot 1A Battipaglia-Romagnano on the Salerno-Reggio Calabria line. The TBM building the Saginara Tunnel on this section was launched in February.
