A 50/50 venture between subsidiaries of French contractor Vinci and Italy’s Webuild has won a €1.4bn contract for the construction of a 57.5km tunnel linking France and Italy.
Connecting Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne in southeast France to Susa in northern Italy, the project is the second works package being built on behalf of Italian state firm Tunnel Euralpin Lyon-Turin (TELT).
The scope of the project includes building a 23km twin-tube tunnel between Saint-Martin-la-Porte and Modane, in Savoie.
Some 25km of tunnels will be created using three tunnel boring machines and 21km of tunnels will be excavated using conventional methods, creating 71 safety tunnels and several galleries.
Construction on the development is due to take five years and involve 1,650 employees.
The rail line aims to reduce long-distance freight travelling by road by stopping a million heavy vehicles taking the journey on Alpine roads, cutting 3 million tonnes of carbon emissions a year.
Image courtesy of Vinci
