RAILWAYS
New Railway Marshalling Yard at Roja  - Ventimiglia, Italy

Client: Consortium IBIS - BERTOLO - LOMBARDINI - CIR CAVESTRADE - on behalf of Ente Ferrovie dello Stato (Italian State Railways)

Services:  Basic, preliminary and final designs, environmental impact assessment study

Period:  1983-1985

Construction Cost:      € 20,864,859

The Project:

The project comes within the Integrative Master Plan drawn up in 1982 by the Italian State Railways for beginning a general improvement of the national railway system. Ventimiglia, on the border with France, is an important junction for freight traffic between the two nations of the EEC. However, the town has always suffered from the highly irregular local orography and the lack of available areas for expanding the facilities, with the result that is has always constituted a bottleneck between the Italian and French railway network. For this reason many forming and shunting operations of freight trains have hitherto been carried out in other marshalling yards.

The area destined for the new railway station is bordered in the north by the Bevera Stream , in the east by the Roja River, in the south by the residential area and car-park, and to the west by the road to Bevera.  The area cannot be further enlarged due to the close proximity of the Roja River and sudden changes in altitude.

The proximity to the Roja River made a hydraulic inspection necessary through a study of the physical model of the river which was elaborated by the Hydraulic Institute of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Pisa on commission by the Superintendent of Public Works of the Liguria Region. The study was particularly aimed at defining the compatibility of placing the new station in an area which is hydrologically affected by the confluence of the Bevera Stream and the Roja River and relative outlet.

The new Roja marshalling yard, with its 300,000 square meters equipped with 25 tracks, each of which permit the arrival and departure of numerous through trains, is intended to atone for the aforesaid infrastructural deficiency to the consequent benefit of future international traffic. The master plan of the yard foresees 4 track sets with a minimum spacing between centrelines of 4,60 m. The first set, of 5 tracks, will receive the trains from Italy. The second set, of 7 tracks, will be used for the shunting and forming of Italian trains bound for France. The third set, of 7 tracks, will provide for the shunting and forming of French trains bound for Italy. The fourth set, of 5 tracks, will receive the trains from France. Furthermore, a service track is planned for circulation of locomotives. Two turnout tracks permit more than one train to be moved at once (pushed or by locomotive) even when trains are arriving.

The project also included: a service track to allow access of the rolling stock to the Materials and Traction Service area;  a group of tracks for transportation of livestock; two tracks for refrigerated wagons with a platform suitable for the ice supply operations; depot sidings for wagons which for customs, security or other reasons are "not good for departure"; a siding with a bridge crane for wagon rearrangement, including container wagons;  two sidings for recovery of bogies and ladder trucks used by the Works and Electrical Installations Services.

In addition to the main works, the following accessories are also planned:  underground passageways and technical facilities; connections with the station of Ventimiglia and the direct line to France; Traction Service facilities; the General Services building;  regular roads; technological installations.

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