CSC Costruzini wins total contractor contract for 1.3 km tunnel in Valais canton

CSC Costruzioni, with parent company Salini Impregilo S.p.A. (now Webuild), has been awarded a contract worth more than 28 million Swiss francs (about 27 million euros) to build an underground link to improve the connection of the power grid in the Canton of Valais. The contract strengthens CSC Costruzioni's presence in Romandie, where it was also recently awarded work to renovate the historic buildings of the United Nations Palais des Nations in Geneva.

CSC Costruzioni and Salini Impregilo will construct between Bâtiaz and Le Verney, in the commune of Martigny, a tunnel approximately 1.3 kilometers long and 3 meters in external diameter for the installation of 380 kV very high voltage cables. This tunnel, built using a Slurry TBM at a depth of between 10 and 20 meters, will connect the La Bâtiaz substation to a 380 kV overhead line. The work, commissioned by Swissgrid, the national company responsible for the electricity grid, will start in May 2020 and will be completed within two years.

Since 1960, CSC Costruzioni has been involved in several projects for major public works in Switzerland, including the 57-kilometer Gotthard Base Tunnel, the longest tunnel in the world, in operation since 2016. A central part of the new rail link across the Alps, about 50 passenger trains travel through the tunnel daily. On the same line, CSC Costruzioni is currently completing work on the Monte Ceneri Base Tunnel through its subsidiary LGV, acquired by CSC Costruzioni in 2019.