The Webuild Equipment & Machinery “regeneration” factory in Terni, Italy, will service, modify and update Webuild’s TBMs to enable them to be reused on new projects – reducing the company’s capital expenditure and operational costs.
The company says that, as well as extending the lifespan of the TBMs, the initiative will reduce all costs linked to the machines and enhance the know-how to develop new technologies in future.
Webuild is currently working on several projects in Italy, including seven railway contracts in Sicily which will require 19 TBMs.
The new factory is part of a larger investment in research and training.
In Belpasso, Catania, Webuild has built a fully-automated factory to produce pre-cast concrete segments for two lots on the Catania-Messina route. A second factory near Enna will open soon. Webuild says it is the first of its kind in Italy, producing a segment every seven minutes, compared with the 10 minutes required without full automation.
The company has also built a training centre in Belpasso, which includes a TBM simulator. Another training venue – the Novi Ligure in Piedmont, built for the Terzo Valico dei Giovi project – focuses on traditional excavation methods and open works, while another soon to open in Campania will specialise in mechanical tunnel excavation.
