Yesterday, Nov. 5, the second Marika TBM officially started its engines to begin its run, ready to dig the second tunnel of Florence’s Passante AV from Campo di Marte to Rifredi, and to change the identity of the city, the region and the whole country.

Her name, Marika. Not just any name, a name that is a symbol of courage, strength and will to succeed. The same values that make the girl after whom this TBM was named unique. Marika, with her strength of more than 4,500 kilowatts, her excavation diameter of 9.4 meters, her 111 meters in length, and weighing 1,500 tons, will excavate, alternating with Iris, with the primary goal of taking a fundamental step together in the expansion of the Florentine railway network.

With the construction of the new Belfiore AV station and the AV rail link, consisting of these two single-track tunnels that will have a total length of 8.35 kilometers, it will come to greatly improve the regularity and efficiency of rail transport, freeing the surface network from High Speed trains and increasing the capacity of local lines. It will also contribute to the redevelopment of urban areas and a potential increase in regional ridership, with direct benefits for citizens, businesses and tourism.

Present at the inauguration of the new milling machine at the Campo di Marte construction site in Florence were President of the Region of Tuscany Eugenio Giani, Mayor of Florence Sara Funaro, CEO and General Manager of RFI Rete Ferroviaria Italiana (FS Group) Gianpiero Strisciuglio and CEO of Impresa Pizzarotti & C. S.p.A.

Riccardo Garrè. “The collaboration between Pizzarotti and Saipem is a strong partnership,” said CEO Riccardo Garrè, ”We feel this very great responsibility upon us and we will continue to dedicate to the contract all the necessary efforts and all the commitment from the two groups and the entire management team.

To learn about Marika’s story

To read the press release