Webuild open robotic ashlar factory

A new era in tunnel construction begins this June with the launch of Webuild's cutting-edge robotic ashlar factory. Set to produce 100,000 prefabricated ashlar segments, the plant is the first of its kind in France and is pivotal to the Turin-Lyon high-speed railway project.

Italian contractor Webuild’s factory, located in La Chapelle, will serve Lot 2 of the Turin-Lyon base tunnel, a critical segment of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T)’s Mediterranean corridor connecting Italy and France. 

The La Chapelle factory is a twin to the Roboplant facility inaugurated in Sicily's Belpasso last November. 

Unlike traditional methods, which can take 10 minutes to produce a 10-tonne ashlar of the size required for the tunnel, the highly automated plant will churn out one segment every 5.5 minutes, achieving a daily output of 160 units. 

Spanning 50,000 m², including 10,000 m² of indoor space, the facility uses robotics and automation to handle all heavy and potentially hazardous operations involved in production, curing, handling, and initial storage of the concrete segments.

The production capacity of this factory is crucial for the Turin-Lyon high-speed rail project, specifically for Lot 2, which is being executed by Webuild in collaboration with France’s Vinci. Lot 2 encompasses the construction of 46km of twin tunnels between Saint-Martin-la-Porte and Praz in the Maurienne Valley.

In addition to Lot 2, Webuild is undertaking Lot 5A, which involves preparatory works for the Modane safety site and constructing four ventilation wells within the base tunnel. These efforts are essential for creating a logistics hub 500m underground.

The Turin-Lyon link is anticipated to significantly reduce road traffic, cutting CO2 emissions by one million tonnes annually by 2032. The Tunnel Euralpin Lyon Turin (TELT) consortium (Réseau Ferré de France (RFF) and Rete Ferroviaria Italiana (RFI)), is overseeing the cross-border section of the railway.