Webuild has completed the installation of the Buttaceto Viaduct, an imposing metal structure that will allow future trains travelling across the Bicocca-Catenanuova section of the Palermo-Catania line to pass over the river of the same name. The construction of the section by Webuild for Rete Ferroviaria Italiana (RFI) of Gruppo FS includes more than 300 direct suppliers – most of them local – and nearly 400 direct and indirect workers. The Bicocca-Catenanuova section is part of the line which will connect Palermo and Catania in less than two hours. It is the biggest infrastructure project under construction in Sicily.
The Buttaceto Viaduct measures approximately 62 metres in length and 750 tonnes in weight, the equivalent of four Boeing 747s.
The structure was assembled on site. It was then raised in place by means of a complex manoeuvre. With the use of hydraulic pistons, the viaduct’s deck was slid across reinforced cement beams and metal supports by an estimated 20 metres a day until it reached the desired spot. The manoeuvre saved on time and materials used.
The manoeuvre was completed just a few days ago with the deck resting at 10 metres above ground. The remaining work on the deck will be completed in the next few days so that once completed the viaduct will be ready to receive in the next months the electrical and other fixtures for the new rail line.
The Buttaceto Viaduct is an important part of the Palermo-Catania project, located in a strategic position in the trajectory of the railway for more than 37 kilometres. The project will have trains travel between the two cities at speeds of up to 200 kilometres per hour and will therefore transform mobility on the island, along with other rail projects by Webuild, namely the Fiumefreddo-Taormina and Taormina-Letojanni sections of the high-capacity line between Messina and Catania.
Webuild is a global leader in sustainable mobility with a track record of 13,637 kilometres of metro and rail lines, and 946 kilometres of bridges and viaducts. In southern Italy, the Group is involved with a supply chain of more than 1,700 direct businesses in the construction of 15 infrastructure projects, which in addition to the aforementioned projects include new sections of the high-speed railway between Naples and Bari, and metro lines in Rome and Naples.
