Ghella (company)

Ghella is an Italian and international civil engineering company,[1][2] specialized in the construction of large public infrastructural works and underground excavations through the use of tunnel boring machines.[3][4] The company builds rapid transit systems (subways), railways, highways and hydraulic works.[5] Ghella is also active in the renewable energy sector, with photovoltaic and hydroelectric power generation plants. The company has built, in joint venture with Acciona, the first stage of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park.[6][7] Today Ghella employs more than 3.600 people, lives 14 countries[8] and operates in 4 continents, especially in Europe, the Far East, the Americas and Oceania.[5]

Ghella
TypeSocietà per Azioni
IndustryConstruction, Engineering
Founded1894
Headquarters
Rome
,
Italy
Key people
Products
Websitewww.ghella.com

History

The company was founded in 1894 by Domenico Ghella.[9] Before this date, Domenico worked as a miner in France, in the construction of the Suez Canal in Egypt, in the funicular tunnel in Istanbul and to build the Trans-siberian railway.[10] Today, the company is led by the fifth generation of the Ghella family.[9]

Ghella has 150 years of experience and builds, for sustainability and with innovation, through the use advanced technologies and cutting-edge construction methods. Over the years it has built more than 130 tunnels and connected over 1000 km of highways, railways and subways around the world.[8]

Operations

Major works

Systems for the environment

Major projects

Legacy Way Project (formerly Northern Link)] - Brisbane, Australia

The Legacy Way Project (2011-2015) is a 4.6 kilometers [1] (2.9 miles) long tunnel in the city of Brisbane connecting the Western Freeway[11] at Toowong and the Inner City Bypass at Kelvin Grove. The work consists of two tolled tunnels [4] inaugurated on 25 June 2015 carrying approximately 20,000 vehicles per day, reducing travel time between the Centenary Bridge and the inner ring road of the city by 71%.

Sydney Metro City & Southwest - Sydney, Australia

The Sydney Metro City & Southwest (2017-2021) consists in the construction of 15.5 km of twin tunnels [12][13] that cross the inlet and a series of new stations on the line towards the City Business District.[14]

Follo Line - Oslo, Norway

The Follo Line is a 22 km high-speed railway line (2015-2022) that links Oslo and Ski,[15] reducing traffic on the outskirts of the capital and halving commuter travel time. It is the longest railway tunnel in Scandinavia.[4][16]

Brenner Base Tunnel - Metro of Europe, Italy

The Brenner Base Tunnel project started in 2016 and it is part of the trans-European TEN-T network and it will be the longest underground rail link in the world. It consists of two main tunnels and one of investigation, made with both mechanized and conventional methods and thanks to the use of 3 TBMs. With the 55 km between the Innsbruck portal and the Fortezza portal, the Brenner Base Tunnel will reduce current travel times by 55 minutes, playing a crucial role in European mobility.[17]

Cross River Rail - Brisbane]], Australia

The Cross River Rail project (2019 - ongoing) includes a new 10.2 km underground railway line - of which 5.9 km are under the river - and four new metro stations in the Brisbane Central Business District.[18]

Central Interceptor - Auckland, New Zealand

The Central Interceptor is a large infrastructural project (2019 - ongoing) built fifteen meters below the seabed of Manukau Harbour in central Auckland, where a large tunnel will significantly reduce wastewater overflows due to rain. At 14.7 km, it will be the longest tunnel in New Zealand.[19]

Broadway Subway extension of the Millennium Line - Vancouver, Canada

Started in 2020, the Broadway Subway project consists in two 5 km tunnels to extend the Millennium Line in Vancouver[20] and six new stations. Elsie and Phyllis are the names of the two TBMs that are involved in the excavation: both of them are named after two decorated British Columbians who were leaders in engineering.[21][22]

M6 Motorway stage 1 - Sydney, Australia

To improve the connection of the southern area of the city, the M6 Stage 1 (2021 - ongoing) foresees the construction of two twin tunnels of 4 km, ramps between the main tunnel and a new surface intersection at President Avenue, a tunnel stub for a future extension of the auxiliary infrastructure, operational structures and new pedestrian and cycle paths.[23]

Naples-Bari High Speed railways, section Telese/Vitulano - Italy

The work (2021 - ongoing) consists in the executive design and construction of a railway track that develops for approximately 20 km. The contract for the project was awarded to the Joint Venture, by the Italian Rail Network (RFI) in 2021.[24] The Naples–Bari High Speed Railway is an integral part of the European TEN-T Scandinavian-Mediterranean Railway Corridor and it will reinforce the rail network in the south of Italy.

Sydney Metro Western Sydney Airport - Australia

The new metro (2022 - ongoing) consists of 9.8 km of twin rail tunnels in two sections and will offer frequent service and driverless trains as well as six new stations along the alignment between St Marys and Aerotropolis [25]

Turin-Lyon Lot 1 Saint Jean de Maurienne AV - France

The Turin-Lyon (2022 - ongoing) is a new railway line that extends for 270 km: 70% in France and 30% in Italy. It is the central part of the Mediterranean Corridor, one of the 9 axes of the TEN-T network. The 65 km cross-border section between Italy and France constitutes the central part of the project[26]

Sydney Metro West - Eastern Tunneling Package - Australia

This project is the final major tunneling package of the city-shaping Sydney Metro West project. Two TBMs will excavate 3.5 km of metro rail tunnels from The Bays to Sydney's Central Business District.[27][28] This work also includes the dig of caverns and shafts at Pyrmont and Hunter Street [29]

Other activities

The company is involved as partner in the promotion of cultural projects. During the pandemic period, Ghella supported the exhibit and catalog INSIEME, a project conceived by Gianni Politi and promoted by Roma Capitale, Sovrintendenza Capitolina ai Beni Culturali. The exhibit was realized inside the Aurelian Walls to display the works of 19 artists and build a dialogue between monument and contemporary[30]

In 2021, Ghella commissioned a series of photographic campaigns on construction sites in Europe, the Far East and Oceania. The works were collected in the catalog “Di roccia, fuochi e avventure sotterranee” curated by Alessandro Dandini de Sylva [31] and displayed in an exhibit at the MAXXI museum in Rome.

References
  1. O'Hanlon, John. "Transcity JV Project (Legacy Way)". BE Global Infrastructure Magazine.
  2. "Recently viewed companies". Bloomberg.
  3. Harper, Phoebe (11 February 2022). "Tunnelling The Way Forward For Auckland". Apac Outlook.
  4. TBM staff (3 September 2020). "ACCIONA Signs Contract to Build Vancouver Broadway Subway Project". Tunnel Business Magazine.
  5. "Ghella". Australian Constructors Association.
  6. "About". The Legal 500.
  7. "First stage of Mohammed Bin Rashid solar park completed in Dubai". Power Technology. 3 July 2018.
  8. "About Ghella". Infrastructure Sustainability Council.
  9. "Italian company helps construct the Cross River Rail project in Brisbane". Choose Italy. 27 October 2021.
  10. Moore, Tony (20 September 2010). "Successful Northern Link tender announced". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  11. Moore, Tony (28 March 2012). "Legacy on its way". Brisbane Times.
  12. Quirke, Joe (22 December 2021). "CPB Contractors and Ghella selected for $1.29bn Sydney metro contract". GCR Global Construction Review.
  13. Sheedy, Chris (17 August 2022). "The story behind the winner of the 2022 Australian Construction Achievement Award". Create Engineering Ideas into Reality.
  14. "Sydney Metro City & Southwest Metro Line, Sydney". Railway Technology. 20 July 2017.
  15. Foley, Amanda (4 March 2015). "Key $1.1 Billion TBM Tunnel Contract Is Awarded For Norway's Follo Line Project". Tunneling Journal.
  16. Menteth, Thames (16 November 2022). "Longest railway tunnel in Nordics handed over from Acciona Ghella". Ground Engineering.
  17. Kajastie, Nia (24 May 2022). "Brenner Base breakthrough combines 24km of tunnel". Ground Engineering.
  18. Smith, Claire (6 October 2021). "Future of Tunnelling Using caverns to minimise tunnelling disruption in Brisbane". New Civil Engineer.
  19. Menteth, Thames (28 September 2022). "Auckland's Central Interceptor TBM starts tunnelling under harbour". Ground Engineering.
  20. Menteth, Thames (22 March 2023). "Vancouver's Broadway Subway project celebrates second tunnel breakthrough". Ground Engineering.
  21. Chan, Kenneth (7 October 2022). "Broadway Subway tunnel boring machines named "Elsie" and "Phyllis"". Urbanized.
  22. Kajastie, Nia (26 January 2023). "First tunnelling milestone for Vancouver's Broadway Subway project". Ground Engineering.
  23. "Milestone roadheader rolled out in Australia". Australian Mining. 19 July 2022.
  24. "Tunnelling work begins on Telese - Vitulano section of Naples - Bari HSL". International Railway Journal. 22 March 2023.
  25. "More Jobs for Western Sydney with another Metro Rail Contract Awarded". NSW Government. 2 March 2022.
  26. "The first 9 km of the base tunnel completed". Tunnel Euralpine Lyon Turin. 19 June 2020.
  27. Keri, Allan (28 November 2022). "Sydney Metro West's Final Tunnelling Contract Awarded". Railay-News.
  28. Tancredi, Holly (29 November 2022). "1.63 Billion Dollars final tunnelling contract awarded for Sydney Metro West". Infrastructure Magazine.
  29. Quirke, Joe (29 November 2022). "CPB, John Holland consortium wins Sydney Metro West tunnelling contract". Global Construction Review.
  30. "INSIEME, Mura Aureliane, Via di Porta Labicana, Roma, 22.10–30.11 2020". Quodlibet.
  31. "Di roccia, fuochi e avventure sotterranee". Quodlibet.
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