Pizzarotti JV wins €1bn Florence rail contract

A consortium of Italian contractors Pizzarotti and Saipem has won a contract to build a rail bypass and high-speed rail station in Florence, Italy.

Photo: Rfi

The contract, valued at more than €1 billion, was awarded by Italian railway infrastructure operator Rete Ferroviaria Italiana (RFI).

RFI said the scope of work includes a 7km-long bypass – which will separate high-speed trains from regional services – as well as two tunnels and the Firenze Belifiore underground station.

According to RFI, the two parallel tunnels will be constructed at an average depth of 20m, and the consortium partners will excavate them using a tunnel boring machine (TBM).

The station will be designed by the architect Foster and engineering firm Ove Arup and partners.

Carlo Luzzatto, CEO of Pizzarotti, said, “This is an award of great importance, iconic and highly prestigious: a strategic work not only for the territory, but for the whole country, given the criticality of the Florence railway junction.”