ITALY - SITE REPORT

This feature considers some recent developments in Italian tunnelling. The first article briefly outlines Italy's ambitious high-speed rail programme, which has plans for seven new routes across the country, linking with neighbouring European railway networks, and considers especially the start of construction of the new Rome-Naples line. The seven new lines will have about 975km of track, of which about 180km will be in tunnels. The Rome-Naples line will have 220km of track, of which 30km will be in 23 tunnels, the longest of which will be 6.6km long. The line's construction is scheduled to take about seven years. The tunnelling will be very difficult, traversing clays, marls and clayey and stratified rocks, some of which have major fractures through which water ingress is expected to be high. Use of a wide range of tunnelling techniques is expected, including drill and blast, pilot tunnel excavation, pre-cutting, and possibly also the Pretunnel technique, which is described in the second article. The Pretunnelling machine cuts a slot which can be 400m, 800m, or 1100m wide, and up to 12m deep; the slot can be cut in a leap-frog pattern or in a continuous arc and filled concurrently with cutting. The massive machine weighs 330t, and has a 60t blade, supported by a rotating drum at each end of the machine.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/0041414X
• Corporate Authors:

  Miller Freeman

  Calderwood Street
  London,   United Kingdom  SE18 6QH
• Authors:
  • Wallis, S
• Publication Date: 1997-4

Language

• English

Media Info

• Pagination: p. 31-3
• Serial:
  • Tunnels & Tunnelling International
  • Volume: 29
  • Issue Number: 4
  • Publisher: Progressive Media Markets, Ltd
  • ISSN: 0041-414X

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Clay; Construction; Excavation; Excavations; High speed ground transportation; High speed vehicles; Marl; Public transit; Railroad tracks; Railroad transportation; Rocks; Speed; Tunnel borers; Tunnels
• Geographic Terms: Italy
• ITRD Terms: 4177: Clay; 3655: Construction; 5155: Excavation (process); 3383: Full face tunnelling machine; 1163: High speed; 8051: Italy; 4119: Marl; 744: Public transport; 1173: Rail bound transport; 4154: Rock; 3374: Tunnel
• Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Construction; Geotechnology; Public Transportation; Railroads;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00739378
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Transport Research Laboratory
• Files: ITRD
• Created Date: Aug 28 1997 12:00AM