The Italian Art of Tunnelling: ITA Awards 2024

On 28^th November 2024 in Genoa, Italferr participated in the 10th edition of the ITA Tunnelling Awards 2024, an event dedicated to underground projects, organized by the ITA-AITES International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association, the international association of tunnels to which the national associations of 80 countries around the world adhere.

The event is part of the broader 3-day program to celebrate the joint anniversary of the 50 years of the Italian Tunnelling Society (SIG) and ITA-AITES.

Among the awarded finalists, important projects and technicians of Italferr:

• For the category “Renovation Project of the Year”, the project for the adaptation works of the tunnels for the sextuplication of the Genoa railway junction was awarded, which will increase its capacity, allowing the separation – and thus the efficiency – of regional and metropolitan traffic flows from those of freight and long-distance. The application focused on two main aspects:
  • the reuse of the Grazie bassa tunnel (built at the beginning of the 20th century, then decommissioned and abandoned) partly for the construction of the new San Tomaso Tunnel and partly as an emergency tunnel for the same with an exit on Piazza Corvetto (another part had already been reused in the 1980s for the construction of the Genoa metro);
  • the widening of the Facchini tunnel to adapt the profile to modern freight trains, using a metal work platform at the entrance that allowed the preliminary ground consolidations to be carried out through guided horizontal drilling without interrupting rail traffic; moreover, for the temporary lining of the excavation, the technology of semi-automatic ribs was used, capable of guaranteeing better deformation control of the mass without reducing the safety of the workers at the front or the efficiency of the production cycle.

• For the category “Project of the Year, 50 – 500 M €”, the H71 lot of the Brenner Base Tunnel, concerning the underpass of the Isarco River, for which Italferr was responsible for the Works Management, was awarded. The project involved the excavation of two tubes with low covers under the A22 motorway and the river itself, requiring the use of artificial ground freezing technique.

• For the category “Young Tunneller of the Year”, the top step of the podium went to Mr. Luigi D’Angelo, an Italferr engineer selected from applications from 16 countries around the world, currently working as Project Engineer on the strategic project to upgrade and speed up the Naples – Bari route. His national and international professional experience and international scientific and study activities within SIG - Italian Tunnelling Society - and ITA were decisive in his selection.

Significant results, which confirm the role of Italferr in the path of excellence of Italian engineering in the world of tunnels and remind us how the greatest projects travel accompanied by the value, competence, and professionalism of the people who make them possible every day.