In order to increase future road capacities in Italy, a 750 km long “Autostrada A1” is in the process of a major upgrade. A challenging mission with several tunnel projects, amongst others the one called “Santa Lucia”. The 7,528 m tunnel through the Apennine mountain range is located on the motorway section of the A1 between Barberino del Mugello and Calenzano in the Province of Florence. The largest tunnel boring machine available in Europe has been used to move forward millimeter by millimeter. This machine was designed to bore through the heterogenous geology of the mountainous region using its drive power of 8,750 kN.
Calabrese Autogru s.r.l. from Torino was given the task to transport the larger components of the tunnel boring machine from the South entrance of the tunnel “Santa Lucia” to the new motorway section called “Nuova Variante di Valico”. For the transport of the bearing with a total weight of 320 t and a diameter of 9,500 mm, Calabrese Autogru used its 20-axles of MSPE self-propelled modular transporters by Cometto with four 110 kW Power Pack Units. The difficult terrain could be managed thanks to the off-road characteristics of the SPMT and the maneuverability achieved by the use of an electronic steering system with a steering angle of +- 135°.
The flexible combination was assembled in a side-by-side configuration. On each end of the convoy, two Power Pack Units provided the necessary driving force. Company director Alessandro Calabrese explains the project details. “The removal was necessary in order to proceed with the completion of the inner tunnel construction. In a second phase, the component will be carried and transported to another location.”
The 20-axle combination type Cometto MSPE 2.43 with an axle load of 40 t provides a total payload capacity of approximately 720 t. The Cometto MSPE is an important transport tool for Calabrese Autogru S.r.l., which is also active in the rental of cranes from 30 t to 800 t and lifting platforms up to 100 m.
