State-owned contractor Tunnel Euralpin Lyon Turin (TELT) has awarded the final construction contract for the 57.5 km section of the Mont Cenis Base Tunnel between France and Italy to a joint venture (JV) led by Itinera. The JV also includes Spie Batignolles and Ghella. The contract worth €1 billion covers the 12.5 km section of the base tunnel from the eastern portal at Susa in Italy to the French border. The work, which will cover a total of 28.5 km of tunnels in Italy and employ around 700 people at the existing La Maddalena site in Chiomonte, is expected to take up to seven years and seven months. The work also includes cross connections between the two main tunnels and the Maddelena 2 access shaft, which will be used by maintenance and emergency personnel once construction is complete. The Italian tunnelling contract also includes underground emergency evacuation facilities in Clarea, where a third tunnel for a passenger train up to 400 m long is being built between the running tunnels. A total of 2.3 million m³ of material is to be excavated during the tunnel works, of which up to 60% will be reused in the project.
