3D modelling of confined spaces: innovation in the service of the transition with Forlì Ambiente

Tailored, advanced, and sustainable environmental services will be on display at the forthcoming edition of Ecomondo, taking place in Rimini from the 4^th to the 7^th of November. For the past ten years, Forlì Ambiente has supported the ecological transition by investing in increasingly advanced technologies. The cooperative society offers a wide range of interventions to private individuals, businesses, and public authorities, including drains, sanitation, environmental remediation, disposal of hazardous materials (such as eternit), post-flood recovery, cleaning of tanks and containers, as well as video inspections and 3D mapping with drones, one of the latest frontiers in development. The service operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, staffed by a highly qualified team of 88 employees, comprising technicians, operators, and administrative personnel.


From crisis to cooperative rebirth
An entity that in 2024 reached a turnover of 19 million euros, born at the end of 2015 from the determination of seven former employees of a struggling company who decided to get back into the game. <<There are specific tools, including the Marcora Law, which allow workers to form cooperatives and take over businesses, even using advance payments of Naspi to build share capital,>> explains President Marco Martelli. <<We have been a successful case of a worker buyout: our initial choices of diversification and innovation proved to be winning strategies, enabling rapid development, the hiring of new collaborators, and the establishment of a solid foundation for growth.>>

The core business has focused on industrial cleaning, particularly within processing plants where targeted interventions are often required to remove limescale and residues from tanks or pipelines. The waste generated is then collected and either disposed of or sent for recovery at specialised facilities. The year 2020 was marked by the sudden loss of Raffaele Laghi, commercial manager and a key figure in the company’s expansion. <<It was a painful and difficult moment that prompted us to rethink our strategy: we strengthened internal organisation, prioritised training and quality, and improved corporate governance.>>

Today, the cooperative works in close synergy with numerous local professionals and companies, while also creating a business network certified by the certification committee of Roma Tre University. <<This model allows us to share resources, personnel, and know-how with a view to efficiency and cooperation, while simultaneously enhancing our market responsiveness.>>

 

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An increasingly eco-sustainable journey
Furthermore, to structure and consolidate the path undertaken, Forlì Ambiente has also created an internal quality and safety office, obtained UNI EN ISO 9001, 14001, and 45001 certifications, and begun calculating its carbon footprint as part of its sustainability reporting. The drafting of a code of ethics and the formation of a Supervisory Body have completed the organisational framework, ensuring transparency, traceability, and resilience.

At the same time, the cooperative has worked to reduce its environmental impact: 65% of the fleet is made up of Euro 6 vehicles, one of which is equipped with an innovative system that purifies and reuses the liquids it vacuums up, reducing the use of clean water and minimising waste disposal. Forlì Ambiente has also backed the creation of two new companies focused on sustainability. The first, CFG Ambiente, was launched with the cooperatives Ciclat Trasporti Ambiente and Gea Depurazioni Industriali. It has taken over a former treatment plant in Bologna with the aim of converting it into a facility for the processing of non-hazardous liquid special waste and for soil washing, a technology capable of recovering up to 70% of street-derived soils. The second is Mente Ecologica, based in Ancona, a company active in environmental training, and is certified to act as an intermediary in waste management.


Drone video-inspections and 3D mapping
Innovation remains one of Forlì Ambiente’s key drivers of growth. Among the most advanced areas is the use of drones for video inspections in confined spaces such as silos, chimneys, underground tanks, boilers, and tunnels. The integration of static and mobile laser scanners (SLAM) also enables the creation of photogrammetric surveys, floor plans, elevations, and fully navigable 3D models in virtual reality. <<We operate daily in environments governed by Legislative Decree 177/2011, and this equipment allows us to access areas that are otherwise unreachable using traditional systems, while safeguarding the safety of our personnel,>> highlights President Marco Martelli.

One of the most significant applications of this technology is the mapping of the buried conduits running beneath cities, once used to carry water to mills and artisanal workshops. <<Following the floods of 2023 in Emilia-Romagna, these often-forgotten channels have proven critical to urban hydraulic safety. We can clean them up, in line with our historical calling, and then map them. We produce surveys that become high-precision point clouds, serving as permanent digital databases for our clients.>>

This is an important activity, also considering the future use of these channels as conveyance systems to detention basins or controlled flood zones. <<We’ve already carried out projects in Forlì, Faenza, Cesena, Bologna (Ravone stream), and Florence, where it’s estimated that more than 45 km of these buried channels exist. We collaborate with local authorities, engineering firms, and academic departments, like DICAM at Bologna, who turn to us when they are unable to operate in confined spaces due to a lack of training or equipment needed to carry out these complex and dangerous operations.>>

 

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Forlì Ambiente at Ecomondo 2025

Among the equipment Forlì Ambiente will present at Ecomondo is a drone specifically designed for underground environments, capable of navigating without GPS thanks to laser sensors. In addition to visual mapping, it performs topographic surveys that can be integrated with static laser scanners with millimetre-level precision. <<At our stand, we’ll also be hosting two of our partner companies,>> continues Martelli.
 

• The first is Dronemaster, based in Latina, which develops solutions using robotic dogs on which sensors and detection instruments can be installed: <<It can enter tight or dangerous spaces, detect the presence of gases, and transmit data in real time. We’re also testing an application, imported from Australia, which integrates a high-precision mobile laser scanner.>>
   
• The second guest will be WASP, from Massa Lombarda in the Ravenna area, which develops 3D printers capable of working with a wide range of materials, from technical mortars to recycled plastics. <<These printers help us make tailor-made parts for our equipment. At Ecomondo, we'll be displaying a complete print production line for mini wind turbines that can generate up to 0.5 kW,>> Martelli concludes <<We share with this company a vision of innovation as a practical tool for transformation, and we exchange technical knowledge and practical solutions in a continuous flow of know-how.>>

Article written by Maria Carla Rota

This blog is a joint project by Ecomondo and Renewable Matter