Rails for the Campolattaro dam
After over 30 years of standstill, the Campolattaro dam is set to transform Campania’s water future. Valente S.p.A., a tunnelling and rail specialist, is involved in the project.
Assembly and final inspection in the factory Photo: Valente S.p.A.
The Campolattaro dam is the largest unfinished hydraulic engineering project in southern Italy. The dam in the province of Benevento remained unused for 32 years. What was missing was the tunnel through which 150 million cubic metres of water – also unused - were to be transported from the reservoir to the water treatment plant and hydroelectric power station below the dam. The then government under Prime Minister Mario Draghi appointed a commissioner to complete the project. The construction site was opened in September 2025 and included in the list of ten strategic construction projects linked to the NRRP (National Reconstruction and Resilience Plan).
Valente S.p.A., one of the leading Italian companies in the field of tunnelling, rail handling and the distribution of rails and associated fastening systems, often for applications outside the railway industry, is also involved in the infrastructure. Valente’s rails and products are used worldwide in tunnels, mines, construction sites and harbours. For Campolattaro, the Milan-based company received an order for rails, sleepers and fastening systems for the track on which the construction trains run in the tunnel. Valente is also supplying the switch system for the shunting area at the tunnel entrance as well as supports for cables and pipes in the tunnel. This is an order worth 1.3 million euros for the company, which was founded in 1919 and is now over a hundred years old and has grown steadily. Valente expects turnover of around 15 million euros by the end of the year.
“Hardly anyone asks about the work which is involved in the construction of a large infrastructure,” remarks Alberto Menoncello, President and Managing Director of Valente S.p.A. “On a large construction site, you need rails and switches to move personnel and various machines. In Campolattaro, the tunnel boring machine (TBM) will drive a large diameter tunnel, moving enormous quantities of different materials, and all of this is done on rails.” This is an ‘old economy’ job jokes Menoncello, but still necessary for large structures. Valente’s tunnelling expertise has enabled the company to take part in major projects, including the Turin-Lyon high-speed line; the Eurotunnel; the Rome metro; the new Florence rail bypass; the new Turin wastewater collector and now the Campolattaro mission, which was once considered impossible.