The tunnel boring machine• Margherita with the power of 8 F1 engines has started exavation of the 13,4 km tunnel.

Work began this morning with a ceremony at the construction site in Ogliastrillo for the excavation of the Cefalù Tunnel, the largest of the three tunnels for the doubling of the section Cefalù / Ogliastrillo - Castelbuono railway, on the Palermo - Messina line. The project,contracted by Rete Ferroviaria Italiana (FS Italiane Group) to a grouping of companies led by Toto Costruzioni Generali, has a value of over 370 million euros.

The new track, with a total length of 12.3 kilometers, double track and almost entirely underground, it runs completely differently from the old one railway headquarters.

The completion of the Ogliastrillo - Castelbuono section as an extension of Palermo Punta Raisi (already in operation) will allow for a significant increase in potential of the transport service relating to the Palermo railway junction as well as the strengthening of the direct connection of the tourist center of Cefalù with the airport of Punta Raisi.

In the presence of the Undersecretary of MIMS for Infrastructures Giancarlo Cancelleri, by the Regional Councilor for Transport Marco Falcone, the Mayors of Cefalù and Pollina, by the Managing Director of RFI Vera Fiorani, by the Project Management Director Infrastructural of Italferr Luigi Evangelista and the Representatives of the companies in ATI, is the “Margherita” cutter, the Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) that it will execute, has been put into operation the excavation and lining of the more than 13 kilometers that make up the two parallel tunnels of the Cefalù Gallery. 140 meters long, with a weight of 1650 tons and a total power of 5.6 MW, equal to about 8 Formula 1 engines, the mega-cutter is equipped with a head rotating 10 meters in diameter, equipped with over 60 steel excavation tools, with which is able to crush the rock.

Highly specialized personnel composed of about 100 units will work on the excavation, for mostly on board the machine, in three shifts on 24 hours, 7 days a week. Others will be engaged in ancillary activities, for a total of over 350 workers employed in the worksite. With these numbers an average daily advance of 16 meters is estimated, with peaks that can exceed 20 meters of excavated and lined tunnel. At this rate, yes
expects that the works in the gallery will be completed by November 2024, while the end
of the works to double the railway line is scheduled for 2025.

To address the complex geology of the Madonie, the TBM was designed with a dual set-up (dual mode), ie capable of operating both in "open" mode on the fronts rocks, which in EPB (Earth Pressure Balance) mode to consolidate the excavation face in softer soils. In addition to cutting down the times of realization, the mechanized excavation has the advantage of drastically reducing the risks for workers inside the machine,
which always operate in a protected context, either by the TBM shield or by the coating already put in place.
Each barrel of the tunnel will use about 8 thousand tons of iron, 2.5 thousand tons of iron fibers and approximately 77 thousand cubic meters of concrete. Overall the volume of lands excavated sum over 1 million cubic meters which will be reused in large part, after characterization, for the re-environmentalization of the former "Roccalupa" quarry.

The production of the segments that will cover the interior of the tunnel is already in full swing regime in the nearby prefabrication plant specially built by Toto e dedicated exclusively to the project, where about 60 skilled workers are employed.Overall, over 40 thousand ashlars will be prefabricated here to cover the walls of the two tunnels.

The lot, which includes tunnel works for a total of over 17 kilometers, includes more to the construction of the Cefalù tunnel in mechanized excavation, also the construction, with the traditional excavation technique, of the S. Ambrogio Gallery, the construction of two new ones Cefalù and Castelbuono stops, three railway viaducts, the suppression of five Passaggi a Level, as well as the safety of the portion of the territory in which the work is located through the hydraulic arrangement of the streams.

In the meantime, work continues on the construction of the remaining two tunnels excavated using the method traditional: S. Ambrogio (3975 m) with 68% advancement and Malpertugio (138 m) with an advancement of approximately 41%. The construction of the decks for two viaducts located between the entrances of the S. Ambrogio and Cefalù tunnels.

https://www.rfi.it/it/news-e-media/comunicati-stampa-e-news/2022/3/3/rfi---linea-palermo-messina--al-via-lo-scavo-della-galleria-di-c.html