News - 03/04/2023

EUTFym Regional Event: March 10th-11th, 2023 (Genoa, Italy) – Terzo Valico dei Giovi

Feedback and thanks

Last March 10th-11^th it was a great pleasure for us from the Young Members group of the SIG - Società Italiana Gallerie to host the EUTFym Regional Event in Italy (for the first time since the birth of the European Underground & Tunnel Forum).

The event was a great success, and we really appreciated the large and enthusiastic participation (first time with 50 young tunnellers).

On this occasion, we showed one of the biggest and cutting edge tunnelling works in Italy, the Terzo Valico dei Giovi Project, a new high-speed railway line (53km long, 37km of which in tunnels) which will improve the connections between the port-city of Genoa and the main railway lines of Northern Italy, and with the rest of Europe, for both freight and passenger trains.

The project is so huge to literally involve every sort of works, with about 80km of total excavation, from conventional to TBM tunnelling, shafts, caverns, drill and blast in hard rock, innovative solutions for brittle and highly tectonised rock with asymmetrical ground pressure on the lining, underground fire-fighting points, presence of gas and even presence of asbestos along some sections.

Hence, the visit allowed all young fellow European tunnellers to appreciate in person the best of the Italian art of Tunnelling on one of the most significant infrastructural works in Europe, with a comprehensive overview on design and construction aspects, and also on operational aspects.

Italferr S.p.A. shared their experience as Resident Engineer and Overall Supervisor of the construction works. Some of the speakers were about our age, and we think that is a pleasant proof of the significant contribution provided by young professionals as us to the tunnelling industry.

On the Vallemme construction site, involving conventional excavation on the central and most challenging section of the Valico tunnel (27km, which will be the longest (#1) in Italy and the #11 in the world), we showed the installation of semi-automatic steel ribs for temporary lining in squeezing ground conditions due to high overburden and poor ground properties.
Thanks to a specifically designed patent, a machine installed the whole steel rib, including the invert, just behind the face and without presence of any worker, thus immediately supporting the ground to minimise convergence, also increasing productivity (quicker installation process) and enhancing safety.

Also, we visited the Voltri cavern construction site, with a quite impressive 320 to 370 sqm cross-section allowing the junction between the Terzo Valico tunnels and the Genoa urban railway tunnels, excavated by means of Drill&Blast through metabasaltic rock, with staggered partialized faces (top heading first, then bench, and finally side drifts).

Of course, as usual, it was equally great to spend some good social time together, as during the dinner and drinks in the evening, as well as the guided tour of the beautiful city of Genoa on the following morning.

Once again, we really want to thank all those who made this event possible, and particularly the sponsors (SPI - Società Prefabbricati per Infrastrutture, Mapei, ETS, Geotechnical Design Group, Maccaferri, Carlomagno), the contractor (COCIV JV, headed by Webuild, with Rocksoil as tunnel designer), the client (RFI Rete Ferroviaria Italiana), the resident engineer (Italferr), the SIG, and of course all those attending the event!

We were really happy to see the appreciation and the curiosity shown for the works, and we look forward to see you again at the next EUTFym event!

Luigi D’Angelo, SIG YMs representative for international activities

Luca Perazzoni, SIG YMs board member

Agostino Viglione, SIG YMs representative for national activities