The public can vote until November 7 for one of two pairs of names: Leucosia and Ligea, inspired by the sirens of Greek mythology who were said to have lived in the Salerno Bay; or Elvira and Olga, a tribute to two prominent Salerno-born artists: Elvira Notari, Italy’s first female film director, and Olga Schiavo, a painter and ceramist.
Xenia Consortium is led by Webuild with partners Pizzarotti, Ghella, and Tunnel Pro, on behalf of RFI (FS Italiane Group). The winning TBM names will be announced on Webuild’s social media channels on November 12.
With a cutterhead diameter of 13.46m, the two TBMs – along with TBM Partenope which was launched in February on the Saginara tunnel – are the largest Webuild and Ghella have deployed in Europe.
One of the new TBMs will excavate the more than 800m-long Serra Lunga tunnel and will then continue with the 250m-long Acerra tunnel and the Petrolla tunnel, which will be more than 1.2km. The other will dig the Piano Grasso tunnel, more than 2.2km long, followed by the Contursi tunnel, which will be over 1.5km.
Lot 1A of the Salerno-Reggio Calabria high-speed railway comprises 35km of rail between the cities of Battipaglia and Romagnano, including 20 tunnels – eight of which will be excavated using four TBMs – and 19 viaducts.
