Coronavirus and Construction
Work Restarts on $1.8B COVID-19 Closed Milan Subway Project
The Italian city of Milan, still in total lockdown in the region of the country hardest hit by the coronavirus, has restarted work on all three tunnel sections of its new $1.8-billion Metro line 4 subway, mobilizing some 200 workers. All construction had been halted by regional COVID-19 legislation for 10 days last month.
To prevent virus infection on site, the joint venture of Salini Impregilo S.p.A. and Astaldi S.p.A. have introduced measures such as twice daily body temperature checks, safe distance working rules and the use of masks and hand sanitizers. A new law to fight COVID-19 transmission requires infrastructure projects to adopt such safety measures before resuming work.
The 15-km twin tunnel extension of Line 4 includes three contiguous sections of twin-bored tunnels. The project is being done by public-private concessionaire M4, in which the city and a group of private investors led by Salini Impregilo are shareholders.
The line is set to connect Milan’s historic center with the city airport in 12 minutes.
In another joint venture, Salini Impregilo continued work on the $220-million replacement for the Polcevera viaduct in the city of Genoa, which collapsed in August 2018. City mayor Marco Bucci set April 21 as the deadline for the final deck sections to be placed.
The PerGenova joint venture, including steelwork contractor Fincantieri Infrastructure, completed 900 m of the 1,067-m-long steel and concrete deck on April 5, after building the first 100-m span in February. The joint venture still has the last four of 19 spans to finish.
PerGenova CEO Nicola Meistro cited the efforts of the project’s “cohesive team” and supply chain, which continued working under anti-COVID--19 conditions.
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