Naples-Bari Line: Italferr achieves two new milestones on the Telese-Vitulano section
Completion of the Ponte Tunnel and inauguration of the overbridge at the 119 kilometre point of the Caserta-Foggia line
Construction work continues at a hot pace on the Naples-Bari High Speed/High Capacity (HS/HC) railway line, with two further tunnelling and infrastructure completion milestones reached on the Telese-Vitulano section of the line, in accordance with the National Recovery and Resilience Plan.
These milestone achievements are the result of the synergy within the Italferr site supervision team, which, every day, ensures the excellence of engineering on the ground, with its dedication, passion and professional qualifications.
On 21 July, the new rail overbridge (WBS project IV03) at the intersection between Provincial Road 106 and the existing Caserta-Foggia railway line (119+405.5 kilometre point), was officially handed over to the Province of Benevento.
Besides removing the level crossing, the overbridge will allow construction work to continue for doubling the railway line that runs alongside the existing line here for approximately 2 km.
The overbridge is a steel-concrete structure 170 metres long, with a total length of approximately 500 metres considering the two access ramps built on an embankment.
On 23 July, the Ponte Tunnel (WBS project GN05), situated in the municipal area of Torrecuso (Benevento), was also completed. Excavation had begun in September 2024 on two working ends, on both the Naples and the Benevento sides. Approximately 335 metres long, the tunnel is part of the newly built section between the future Ponte stop and the Calore river crossing, in the direction of Benevento.
The double-track tunnel was excavated conventionally, primarily using “C” sections and jet grouting, to ensure the stability of the face and walls, with fibreglass (VTR) pipe reinforcements at the face, pre-reinforcement with metal pipes and jet-grouted ring structures to strengthen the contour of the tunnel.
The Ponte Tunnel is the third tunnel to be completed, of the seven planned along the Telese-Vitulano section, after the Reventa Tunnel in April 2025 (at the same time as the Telese Tunnel of the Frasso-Telese Lot 1) and the Limata Tunnel in June. Work is currently under way on the other 13 excavation fronts, with approximately 80% of the overall tunnelling work having been completed.
