Olmata Tunnel, from survey to construction: an integrated design approach for the renewal of railway tunnels

RFI (Rete Ferroviaria Italiana - Italian Railway Network) has been undertaking for several years an intense activity of maintenance and renewal of the infrastructure heritage. ETS has been in charge of the survey and the design for the renewal of Galleria Olmata, part of the Scandinavian-Mediterranean Corridor which represents the north-south axis of the Trans-European Transport Networks (TEN-T). The project required: the widening of the clearance to ensure the strengthening of the railway, the resolution of the leakages, the mapping and backfilling of the cavities along the line, and the execution of the works with respect to the requirements of a working line. The paper shows the detailed methodology of: surveying the tunnel structures (with the ETS system ARCHI-TA), verifying the clearance conditions, designing the reinforcement works and the milling of the existing lining with the support of FEM 2D-3D analysis, planning of the construction activities, integrated approach (BIM) in all the stages.