ITALY OPENS EUROPE'S LONGEST ROAD TUNNEL @ 04 Apr 2022

ITALY OPENS EUROPE'S LONGEST ROAD TUNNEL

Italy scored a coup with the longest three-lane road gallery in Europe, the Santa Lucia tunnel, on the Autostrada del Sole Highway tract between Florence and Bologna, inaugurated on the 4th April 2022. The tunnel is expected to cut motoring time by 30% and should decrease CO2 emissions by -2000 tons per year.

The 7.5 km. Santa Lucia tunnel runs under the Apennines on the Barberino-Florence section of the highway. The Florence -Bologna is one of the busiest roads in Italy, with a transit peak period average of 100 vehicles per minute.

Work on the gallery began in July 2017 and involved the use of the biggest tunnel boring machine (commonly referred to as a “mole”) ever employed in Europe and specially adapted for the project – the German Herrenknecht TMB, with an earth pressure balance shield of 15.87 meter – diameter. Tunnelling was completed in June 2020 and the subsequent work has been involved in perfecting security systems and testing.

Italy's Autostrada del Sole (Sun Highway), linking Milan with Naples, was considered revolutionary when it was launched in 1964. Since then, many more tracts have been added over the years, linking all the regions of the country, including the Reggio Calabria “toe of the boot”, the door to Sicily.

Info: www.stradeautostrade.it


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