Construction of the 13km long, 5.2m diameter Peloritani rail tunnel in Sicily is on schedule for a December 2000 completion. Contractor, Consorzio Ferrofir, a JV of Astaldi/Impregilo/Di Penta is currently excavating the inverted arch which is scheduled to be finished in September this year.
The JV began construction on the $500m project with a TBM driven pilot tunnel. After about 2km TBM excavation of the drift was abandoned as the machine hit water-bearing degraded gneiss and mylonite.
The section enlargement of the first 2km tunnel was performed using radial conventional grouting from the drift and by forepoling ahead of the bore. Tunnelling resumed using backhoe and hydraulic hammer. Initially the half section was excavated under an umbrella of forepoling ahead of the bore, followed by the abutment construction and inverted arch excavation. A front loader and trucks were used to remove spoil.
For the last 300m, the high ground water level made it necessary to grout all round the tunnel section, to consolidate and waterproof the inverted arch.
The railway tunnel connects the town of Messina with Villafranca Tirrenica, pasing under the Peloritani mountain range.
This section is part of the new ‘double-way’ railway Palermo-Messina.
