Autostrade per l’Italia has awarded Webuild Group the contract for the construction of the central section of the Genoa Undersea Road Tunnel.
The €803m Lot B contract, which will be delivered by Webuild (90 per cent) and its subsidiary SELI Overseas (10 per cent), involves the most complex stretch of the project, running beneath the port basin and the city.
The project is a key component in improving urban mobility and enhancing connections between the city and the port, one of the Mediterranean’s main logistics hubs.
The overall route will extend approximately 4.2km, including 3.4km in tunnels, with two separate parallel tubes for each direction of travel. The tunnel will connect San Benigno, to the west, with Viale Brigate Partigiane in the Foce district, passing beneath the port basin, where it will reach a minimum depth of more than 40m, before rising again beneath the hill of the Carignano district.
Excavation will be carried out using a 16m-diameter TBM, one of the largest to be used in Italy. In total, it will excavate approximately 7km.
Webuild says the project presents major challenges of constructing below the seabed, tunnelling through complex geology, and operating inside a busy urban and port environment.
The new tunnel will separate urban traffic from port and logistics flows to reduce congestion, emissions and noise pollution. The most visible benefits will be at surface level: diverting a significant share of traffic underground will free up urban spaces, improve connections between neighbourhoods and enhance the liveability of some of Genoa’s most congested areas.
