Montereale, July 16th 2021 – Today, with a ceremony at the Toto Costruzioni Generali site, the excavation of the Marana Tunnel was concluded, in the Fourth Lot of the variant to the SS260 “Picente” road, in the Municipality of Montereale. The tunnel, 1148 meters long, is the most significant work of the lot and among the most important of the entire stretch L’Aquila – Montereale – Amatrice, under renovation at the urging of the client Anas. A variant that will allow to reach the picturesque centers of the Alto Aterno without crossing the villages. Able to connect with a strategic, safe and comfortable viability, Abruzzo, Lazio and Marche with the main routes, both in the direction of Rome and towards the Adriatic coast.
The new 1,148-meter-long tunnel is built
Toto Costruzioni Generali’s project, worth over 46 million euros, involves the modernisation and upgrading of six and a half kilometers of the State road between the Marana and Cavallari junctions, between the municipalities of Montereale and Capitignano, in the province of L’Aquila. In addition to the tunnel, the section includes a viaduct and four bridges, which are under construction.
The works
The excavation of the Marana Tunnel went on simultaneously in two directions, from both entances, and ended this morning, at 11 a.m., with the demolition of the last wall that separated the two fronts. “We worked with mechanical means and micro-explosive charges, what in technical jargon is called “drill & blast”, reaching advancement peaks of 160 meters per month,” says engineer Matteo Scacciafratte, Project Manager of Toto Costruzioni. “The tunnel, with an excavation diameter of 12 metres, will host two 3.5-metre traffic lanes. We expect to be able to deliver the work on the Fourth Lot by June 2022, on schedule.” A strategic lot for the completion of an highway that will cross the territories of two provinces, L’Aquila and Rieti, and will allow a safe connection, adequate to the latest anti-seismic regulations, between the epicenters of the most devastating earthquakes in Central Italy in recent years.
The bond with the territory
“For the Toto Group, this is the sign of an indissoluble bond with the territory,” says Paolo Toto, President of Toto Costruzioni. “While we have gone very far with the renewable energy and construction business, even to the other side of the Atlantic, our identity remains strongly rooted in this beautiful Region. For us, it is essential to be here, to testify to the continuity of our commitment as builders from Abruzzo. Also in Abruzzo, on behalf of the Group’s concessionaire, Strada dei Parchi, we are carrying out an impressive anti-seismic upgrading on the viaducts of the A24 and A25 motorway network. And we started with those closest to the L’Aquila epicenter. Today, thanks to the work of our engineers and our workers, the tenacity of local administrators and the Abruzzo Region, and the commitment of the Customer, we have completed on schedule the excavation of a work of fundamental importance for the economy and tourism of these areas. A crossroads of three Italian regions that border on nature reserves and enchanting landscapes. As constructors and motorway concessionnaire, we are aware of the fact that road infrastructures are the cornerstone of any future development, and as people from Abruzzo, we are witnesses of how far our fellow countrymen can go when they are put in a position to do so. As a company, we began our activity in the great economic boom of the 1960s and with works such as these, in a context of great renewal at national and global level, we hope to lay the foundations for a more sustainable resurgence”.
