Boring is due to start this month on Lot 4 of Italy’s 9.6km long Turin metro. The 7.8m Lovat EPB TBM arrived on site and was assembled in November 2002 followed by the back-up in December.
A Joint Venture between Grandi Lavori Fincosit and Seli will bore the 2.7km long twin-bore section between Pozzo Strada and Principi d’Acaja.
The 4,000kW Lovat is equipped with 56 disc cutters and 180 scrapers designed to cope with the cobbles, gravel, sands and fines characteristic of Turin. The tunnel will be lined with 300mm thick pre-cast concrete segments (six and a key) bringing the internal diameter down to 6.9m.
The same JV is operating an identical Lovat on Lot 3 – the section between Fermi station and Pozzo Strada.
Construction of Lot 5, from Principi d’Acaja to Porta Nuova, will also start early next year using an 8m diameter NFM TBM, which is currently being dismantled and modified following its involvement in the construction of the 2.7km long single tube Monte Zucco tunnel, part of Italy’s Treviso-Calalzo di Cadore railway (March 2002, p 28). Lots 3, 4 and 5 are part of Phase 1 of Turin metro’s Line 1.
A Geodata and Systra JointVenture is providing design and project management services. The entire line should be operational by late 2005, ready for the 2006 Winter Olympics.
