CEFALÙ SUBWAY PROJECT - ITALY

Cefalù, March 3, 2022 – at the Toto construction site in Ogliastrillo, work began on the excavation of the Cefalù Tunnel, the longest of the three tunnels for doubling the Cefalù/Ogliastrillo – Castelbuono railway on the Palermo – Messina line. The project has a total length of 12.3 km, the new double-subway line, almost entirely underground, runs completely by-passing the old railway line; the project, contracted by Rete Ferroviaria Italiana (RFI) to Toto Costruzioni Generali,   “Margherita” Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM), which will excavate and line over 13 km of the two parallel tubes of the Cefalù Tunnel, was put into operation. With a length of 140 metres, a weight of 1650 tonnes and a total power of 5.6 MW, the TBM is equipped with a 10-metre-diameter rotating head with more than 60 steel excavation tools, with which it is able to break up rock. Excavation of the Cefalù Tunnel begins in the direction of Messina. Highly specialised staff of around 100 will work on the excavation, mostly on board the machine, in three shifts over 24 hours, 7 days a week. Others will be engaged in subsidiary activities, for a total of more than 350 workers employed on the site. With these numbers, an average daily advance of 16 metres is estimated, with peaks of more than 20 metres of tunnel excavated and lined. At this rate, work on the tunnel is expected to be completed by November 2024. 

To cope with the complex geology of the Madonie terrain, the TBM has been designed with a double mode, being able to operate both in “open” mode on rocky fronts and in EPB (Earth Pressure Balance) mode to consolidate the excavation face in more yielding terrain. In addition to cutting construction times, mechanized excavation has the advantage of drastically reducing risks for the workers inside the machine, who always operate in a protected environment, either by the shield of the TBM or by the lining already in place.