From Traditional to Smart Construction Sites: IoT and Safety in Major Infrastructure Projects

Infrastructure Investments 2025: Strategic Sites and Major Works

Every day, hundreds of people work in complex environments on major construction sites: advancing tunnels, moving machinery, confined spaces, and tight shifts. Here, safety is not just a procedure—it’s an operational responsibility that requires visibility, speed, and control.

In 2025, Italy is experiencing an unprecedented phase of infrastructure modernization, with over €200 billion in public investments dedicated to transport, railways, and national technology networks (MIT). Railway tunnels, urban passages, and strategic construction sites are reshaping the country—but also increasing the complexity of daily site management.

Workplace Safety on Major Construction Sites: Critical Numbers and New Prevention Needs

Despite regulatory evolution, workplace safety remains one of the construction sector’s greatest challenges.

In the first 11 months of 2025, 735 fatal workplace accidents were recorded, 133 of which occurred in construction  (Vega Engineering) —the sector with the highest rate of serious and fatal incidents. Falls from height, collisions between machinery and workers, exposure to gases and dust in tunnels: these are familiar risks for anyone working daily on major construction sites. Compliance alone is no longer enough.  

What is needed is proactive risk management, capable of anticipating events and supporting rapid decision-making—especially in emergencies.

IoT and Construction Digitization: A Strategic Factor for Operational Safety

In this context, digitizing construction processes has become a decisive factor for ensuring worker safety and operational continuity. Advanced digital systems transform safety management from reactive to preventive, providing a constant, up-to-date view of operational conditions.

How AME Supports the Tunnel & Construction Sector: Integrated Safety, Real-Time Data, Operational Continuity

For over 25 years, AME has operated in the field of safety and security for complex infrastructure, supporting contractors, clients, and HSE managers in high-risk environments. AME solutions have contributed to securing more than 500 km of infrastructure and guiding numerous strategic sites across Italy. 

Today, this expertise is actively applied in 8 of the largest construction sites and railway tunnels currently in operation, where ensuring people’s safety, managing emergencies, and maintaining operational continuity are non-negotiable, every single day. 

AMESPHERE: An Integrated Ecosystem for Major Construction Sites

At the core of AME’s approach is AMESPHERE, a modular digital ecosystem integrating safety, security, and communication into a single operational platform.

• Safety-first: AMESPHERE enables real-time tracking of workers via Active TAGs and multi-reader systems, continuous environmental monitoring, and collision prevention between machinery and personnel. This  ensures knowing who is in the tunnel, where they are, and intervening quickly in case of emergency.
• Security: Smart access control and advanced video surveillance manage entries, authorizations, and flows of people and machinery, correlating events, personnel, and images in a single operational view to support audits, investigations, and prevention.
• ContinuousCommunication: Robust network infrastructures—GSM, digital UHF radios, VoIP over fiber, and industrial Wi-Fi—ensure reliable communication between surface and underground, keeping the chain of command active even under the most critical conditions.

Tangible Results: Measurable Safety and More Efficient Management

Adopting integrated solutions like AMESPHERE delivers measurable results:

• Reduced emergency response times
• Better planning of activities through reliable historical data
• Support for regulatory compliance and HSE audits
• Increased operational efficiency and uninterrupted work

Looking Ahead: Safety, Data, and Responsibility in Major Works

The future of major construction projects relies on sites where safety, data, and operational responsibility go hand in hand. For those working on-site every day, securing a construction site means seeing what is happening in real time, anticipating risks, and ensuring communication is always active.

With AMESPHERE, technology becomes a practical tool for people, transforming the complexity of construction sites into operational control.

See AMESPHERE in action: read the full article and explore the case study of the Brenner Base Tunnel in our demo video.