Webuild has created a factory at Terni, in Italy, to assemble and regenerate TBMs, in a bid to reduce the Group’s CAPEX and operational costs. The new factory represents the last piece of the Group’s investment plan in innovation and training to create quality employment in Italy, it says.
Webuild will have a total of 58 TBMs, including those already operating, those being assembled, those that have been ordered and those that will be ordered for planned projects. The Terni factory initiative besides extending the lifespan of these TBMs, and reducing costs linked to these machines, will also teach the Group what is useful to develop, in an immediate subsequent phase, with regard to new technologies that can increase the automation levels of the TBMs benefiting safety, work quality, and operational efficiency.
A Webuild statement said, “The commitment in carrying out these maintenance activities on these TBMs with the foundation of WEM (Webuild Equipment & Machinery), stands as a clear reflection of the numerous tunnel boring activities done by the Webuild Group globally, especially in Italy. In fact, solely in Sicily it is currently working on 7 railway projects covering 200km of railway network, which include 175km of tunnels and 19 TBMs programmed to work in the construction sites of this Region, with an investment exceeding €400M.
“Due to these activities, the Group decided to greatly invest in the sector with the related research activities, also from a specialised training perspective, and using simulators that allow training new personnel directly on site. Webuild has built a completely automated factory at Belpasso, Catania, to produce pre-cast concrete segments to be used to line the tunnels of the two lots on the Catania-Messina route, with a second factory near Enna soon to be opened too. The first of its kind in Italy, it will produce a segment every 7 minutes (against the 10 minutes required without total automation).
“With its training an employment plan named ’Cantiere Lavoro Italia‘, the Group has decided to provide training programmes to hire the required technical figures, like those that will drive the large TBMs that bore tunnels, thanks to simulators specifically built for the Belpasso training centre near Catania, in Sicily, Italy. The Sicilian training centre adds to the many that Webuild has created in Italy, just like the Novi Ligure one in Piedmont for the Terzo Valico dei Giovi project, which is specifically dedicated to the traditional excavation method and open works, and the one in Campania, which on the contrary specialises in mechanical tunnel excavation and which will soon be opened.”
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