en.Wedoany.com Reported - Webuild has achieved two construction milestones simultaneously on the Messina-Catania railway double-track project: completing the boring of the 2.7 km-long Scaletta tunnel and starting excavation of the 3.8 km Letojanni tunnel. Both tunnels are part of a plan to relocate approximately 43 km of track inland along the Ionian coastal corridor.
The Palermo-Catania-Messina railway modernization program aims to reduce travel time between Palermo and Catania by about 60 minutes, and between Messina and Catania by about 30 minutes. The Giampilieri-Fiumefreddo lot includes multiple tunnels, large viaducts, and a future underground station in Taormina. The modernization covers approximately 43 km of track, mostly in tunnel form, traversing the geologically complex terrain of the TEN-T Scandinavian-Mediterranean Corridor.
The supply chain of main contractor Webuild involves approximately 7,500 companies, with the operator being RFI/FS Italiane. The Scaletta tunnel is now completed, excavation of the Letojanni tunnel has started, and the completion date for the entire program has not been disclosed.
During the 2024-2025 period, no directly comparable contract values were available for similar railway tunnel lots in southern Italy. However, other TEN-T corridor interventions on the Italian peninsula are of similar scale, such as the Terzo Valico dei Giovi high-speed/high-capacity line (approximately 53 km of new line, mostly in tunnel), with a total investment exceeding €8 billion (source: Italian Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, 2023). Webuild is simultaneously operating two tunnel boring machines—"Letterìa" at Scaletta and "Alessia" at Letojanni—continuing the production model adopted by the contractor in other projects. In the Terzo Valico project, Webuild (then known as Salini Impregilo) simultaneously operated multiple TBMs to accelerate excavation in fractured rock formations. The unique aspect of the Sicily project is that TBM "Alessia" was repositioned and recommissioned from a previous section to reduce mobilization costs, though requiring careful geological recalibration. In contrast, competitive projects such as the Brenner Base Tunnel in the Alps use purpose-built TBMs for each lot, optimizing cutterhead design at higher upfront capital costs (source: BBT SE, 2024). The total contract value, detailed completion milestones, and cost-per-kilometer benchmarks for the Giampilieri-Fiumefreddo lot were not disclosed at the time of publication.
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