Innovative and Smart Builders

Innovation and Competitiveness for Sustainable Growth

Innovation is one of the strategic pillars of Webuild for the Group's sustainable growth. We invest in innovation, research, and development at both project and corporate levels, with a focus on creating a sustainable legacy. This approach addresses the environmental, engineering, and technical challenges we face, as well as the safety of our people and the well-being of local communities where we operate.

Every Webuild site serves as a laboratory of ongoing, advanced research in processes, products, and materials, contributing to technological advancements within our industry and enhancing the Group’s competitiveness by focusing on:

• Core process efficiency (time and cost optimization);
• Energy and socio-environmental performance of our projects, aimed at generating positive impacts, such as fewer work-related incidents, environmental protection, and the growth and development of communities and regions we work with;
• Quality in construction performance, translating to the satisfaction of our clients.

Investing in innovation also means investing in the digitalisation, automation and industrialisation of processes involving all areas of the company.

In 2024, investments in innovation and cleantech – innovative technologies designed to reduce environmental impact – amounted to over €250 million, of which €12 million was allocated to innovation, research and development projects, involving over 190 people. The goal is to achieve even higher levels of investment by 2025 (+€430 million) in order to make an increasingly concrete contribution to the development of innovative solutions in the sector.

Innovative Solutions for Unique Projects: How Innovation Drives the Sustainability of Our Works

In the five-year period 2019-2023, we invested an average of approximately €33 million per year in innovation activities.  In the three-year period 2021-2023, the Company invested additional resources of over €57 million to launch innovative projects with a high technological and digital impact on business processes

We are committed every day to research and development programmes to successfully address the technical challenges of our projects, right from the tender stage. 

Construction Techniques

We apply Lean Construction principles to re-engineer our processes with the aim of improving performance quality.  In recent years, the Group has focused on developing "best-in-class" innovative processes and products, from tunneling to specialized structures.   In addition to helping improve TBM (Tunnel Boring Machines) excavation techniques worldwide with TBMs capable of operating at high pressure, on steep slopes and in highly connected environments, Webuild continues to innovate in the tunnelling sector by developing, for example, innovative methods such as the Riser Concept applied in the Matanza-Riachuelo river basin in Argentina.  

In 2023, we inaugurated Roboplant in Sicily, the first safe, green, and fully automated Factory 4.0 facility, designed and developed by Webuild for the production of tunnel lining segments. 

In 2024, on the Naples-Bari high-speed railway, we began Italy's first hyperbaric tunneling operation, a European best practice.  For part of the Casalnuovo tunnel, on the Naples-Cancello section, excavation is carried out using compressed air to keep groundwater out of the work areas. 

Green TBMs

For several years, the Webuild Group has been collaborating on the design and development of advanced Tunnel Boring Machines (TBMs), designed to reduce energy and water consumption by optimising the systems and devices on board the TBMs.

In the two-year period 2023-2024, the first Green TBMs were prepared and delivered to RFI Italia railway construction sites. These machines are designed to reduce their environmental footprint, improving the overall efficiency of the system with a reduction in energy and water consumption of approximately 20% per cubic metre of tunnel excavated compared to traditional TBMs.

The Innovative FACS System

The Force-Activated Coupling System (FACS) is an advanced segment assembly model designed to enhance the structural safety of hydraulic tunnels. This highly innovative technique, developed and patented by Webuild, is being applied in Australia’s Snowy 2.0 project. 

Read the factsheet about FACS technology

The W.E.M. Project

Rooted in principles of circular economy and technological innovation, the WEM (Webuild Equipment & Machinery) project was launched by Webuild in 2024 with the establishment of the first TBM regeneration facility in Terni, Italy. 

Under a traditional lifecycle, TBMs (Tunnel Boring Machines) excavate and construct tunnels, after which they are dismantled and returned to the supplier.  At the Terni facility, Webuild has introduced a process for regenerating used TBMs, making it the first general contractor to invest in breathing new life into these machines. This circular economy model enhances project efficiency while reducing waste.

Digitizing Construction Sites

In a rapidly evolving technological landscape, we are committed to corporate-level,  innovation, research, and development to identify, develop, and adopt implement cutting-edge methodologies and digital technologies to support our business operations, both for the Group’s strategic choices of our Group, and for specific projects.

We develop innovative tools in the fields of Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, Big Data & Predictive Analysis to facilitate the processing of large amounts of data, thus making concise and detailed outputs available in real time within the organisation to increase the efficiency of process management, acquire and capitalise on new know-how, monitor and improve the quality of our performance, while preserving the environment and local communities.  
Through partnerships with the bestleading industry experts and professionals on the market, with universities, and research centres, the Webuild Group has launched an innovation process that aims at creating transparent " “Digital and Transparent Construction Sites": we adopt technologies to support the management processes in their execution phases, from  from site startup through project closure. By digitizing our construction sites, we aim to boost production efficiency and elevate safety standards across our global sites.

Initiatives in this area include the Tunnel WeView system, which assists in managing, monitoring production, safety, and environmental aspects of projects, assessing their impact through real-time data collection, processing, and visualization of operational, energy, and environmental data. Initially applied to the Snowy 2.0 project, it has since been implemented at project sites in Paris and on the Apice-Hirpinia segment in Italy. In 2023, we began developing a Corporate Tunnel WeView system to extend the platform as an integrated solution connected to corporate servers for Italian projects.

Our development of Building Information Modeling (BIM) and Virtual Design and Construction (VDC) approaches, processes, and tools has also enabled us to implement innovative forecasting and optimization models for our construction processes.

Innovative Materials 

The Group invests significant resources in this area, including the adoption of “Construction 4.0” electrical systems capable of monitoring the electrical parameters of construction sites and improving their energy performance. Additionally, we focus on replacing energy-intensive processes with more eco-friendly alternatives.

Safety, Quality, and Environment: The Sustainable Footprint of Webuild Sites

Webuild designs its construction sites sustainably, paying attention to the health and safety of its workers and communities, and to safeguarding the environment. Right from the design phase of our construction sites, we adopt a "Sustainable Construction Site" model thanks to new technologies and modern cutting-edge work models, to guarantee safety in the workplace and to protect the territories where we work, coordinating with the Competent Authorities.

In our construction sites, we develop integrated solutions to improve health and safety at work. We study Smart Safety pilot projects with sensor systems for human-machine interaction, human-suspended loads interaction, and the delimitation of areas with greater risks. We constantly work to optimize our work at height procedures, we invest in training our staff to make them more aware on Health & Safety matters, through scheduled and on-the-job training initiatives. We adopt solutions for real-time supervision of work activities carried out in our construction sites.

Webuild protects the territory that hosts its construction sites, establishing a close relationship with it. This takes the form of smart and innovative solutions for efficiency, circular economy, reduction of the environmental footprint, and biodiversity safeguarding activities. All the industrial processes needed to build our projects that see us involved globally are subjected to evaluation, efficiency and optimization, in terms of their environmental components, with particular attention to water, energy and material consumption. 

Energy Efficiency 

The Group invests significant resources in this area, including the adoption of “Construction 4.0” electrical systems capable of monitoring the electrical parameters of construction sites and improving their energy performance. Additionally, we focus on replacing energy-intensive processes with more eco-friendly alternatives.