Gotthard Base Tunnel

Gotthard Base Tunnel

Turnout at Faido multifunction station
Overview
Official name	German: Gotthard-Basistunnel, Italian: Galleria di base del San Gottardo
Line	AlpTransit
Location	Traversing the central Swiss Alps of Saint-Gotthard Massif in cantons of Uri, Graubünden, and Ticino
Coordinates	46°36′00″N 8°45′54″E / 46.600°N 8.765°E / 46.600; 8.765Coordinates: 46°36′00″N 8°45′54″E / 46.600°N 8.765°E / 46.600; 8.765
Status	Commissioning, commercial services to start December 2016[1]
System	Swiss Federal Railways (SBB CFF FFS)
Crosses	Western Glarus Alps (Chrüzlistock) and central Lepontine Alps at the eastern Saint-Gotthard Massif (Piz Vatgira, Pizzo dell'Uomo)
Start	Erstfeld, canton of Uri (north, 469 m (1,539 ft))
End	Bodio, canton of Ticino (south, 312 m (1,024 ft))
Operation
Work begun	5 July 1999[2]
Opened	1 June 2016[3]
Owner	SBB Infrastructure
Operator	SBB CFF FFS
Traffic	Railway
Character	Passenger (from December 2016), freight
Technical
Length	151.840 km (94.349 mi)[4]
Line length	57.09 km (35.47 mi)[4]
Track length	57.104 km (35.483 mi) (east tunnel) 57.017 km (35.429 mi) (west tunnel)[4]
No. of tracks	2 single-track tubes[4]
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) (standard gauge)
Electrified	15 kV 16.7 Hz
Operating speed	Up to 250 km/h (160 mph)
Highest elevation	549 m (1,801 ft)[4]
Lowest elevation	312 m (1,024 ft) (south portal)[4]
Tunnel clearance	5.20 m (17.1 ft) from top of rail to overhead conductor[4]
Grade	4.055 ‰ (north), 6.67 ‰ (south)[4]
Route map

The Gotthard Base Tunnel (GBT; German: Gotthard-Basistunnel, Italian: Galleria di base del San Gottardo) is a railway base tunnel through the Alps in Switzerland. It opened on 1 June 2016 with full service to begin in December 2016.^[5][6] With a route length of 57.09 km (35.5 mi) and a total of 151.84 km (94.3 mi) of tunnels, shafts and passages,^[4] it is the world's longest and deepest traffic tunnel^[7][8][9] and the first flat, low-level route through the Alps.^[10]

The project consists of two single-track tunnels connecting Erstfeld (Uri) with Bodio (Ticino) and passing below Sedrun (Graubünden). It is part of the AlpTransit project, also known as the New Railway Link through the Alps (NRLA), which includes the Lötschberg Base Tunnel between the cantons of Bern and Valais and the Ceneri Base Tunnel (under construction, scheduled to open late 2020) to the south. It bypasses the Gotthardbahn, a winding mountain route opened in 1882 across the Saint-Gotthard Massif, which is now operating at capacity, and establishes a direct route usable by high-speed rail and heavy freight trains.^[11] It is the third tunnel connecting the cantons of Uri and Ticino after the Gotthard Tunnel and the Gotthard Road Tunnel.

The main purpose of the Gotthard Base Tunnel is to increase local transport capacity through the Alpine barrier, especially for freight, notably on the Rotterdam–Basel–Genoa corridor, and more particularly to shift freight volumes from trucks to freight trains. This not only significantly reduces the danger of fatal road crashes involving trucks, but also reduces the environmental damage caused by the ever-increasing amount of freight hauled by heavy trucks. The tunnel will provide a faster connection between the canton of Ticino and the rest of Switzerland, as well as between northern and southern Europe, cutting the Zürich–Lugano–Milan journey time for passenger trains by one hour (and from Lucerne to Bellinzona by 45 minutes).^[12]

After 64 percent of Swiss voters accepted the AlpTransit project in a 1992 referendum, tunnel construction began in 1996.^[13] Drilling operations in the eastern tunnel were completed on 15 October 2010 in a breakthrough ceremony broadcast live on Swiss TV,^[14] and in the western tunnel on 23 March 2011. The tunnels' constructor, AlpTransit Gotthard AG, originally planned to hand over the tunnel to Swiss Federal Railways (SBB CFF FFS) in operating condition in December 2016^[15] but, on 4 February 2014, the handover date was changed to 5 June 2016 with the start of an 850-day opening countdown calendar on the AlpTransit homepage.^[3] The total projected cost of the project was 9.8 billion Swiss francs (€8.85 billion, US$10.3 billion^[14]); the final cost exceeded $12 billion.^[6] Nine people died during construction.^[16]

Background

The route over the St Gotthard Pass (or through its tunnels) is one of the most important passages through the Alps on the north-south axis. Traffic had increased more than tenfold since 1980, and the existing tunnels were already at their capacity limits by 2013.^[17] A second (proposed) road tunnel parallel to the first was to be constructed only if the volume of traffic rose above one million vehicles a year. Giovanni Lombardi, the engineer responsible for the construction of the road tunnel, added, "one year after the inauguration, the tunnel was already seeing 2.5 million vehicles [rising to about six million in 2011] annually. But the promise was forgotten".^[18]

To provide a faster and flatter passage through the Swiss Alps, the GBT cuts through the Gotthard Massif some 600 m (2,000 ft) below the older tunnel. On the current track, the Gotthardbahn, only trains up to 1,300 t (1,400 short tons; 1,300 long tons)^[19] when using two locomotives or up to 1,500 t (1,700 short tons; 1,500 long tons) with an additional bank engine at the end of the train are able to pass through the narrow mountain valleys and through spiral tunnels climbing up to the portals of the old tunnel at a height of 1,100 m (3,609 ft) above sea level. When the GBT is in full service, standard freight trains of up to 3,600 t (4,000 short tons; 3,500 long tons) will be able to pass this natural barrier.

Because of ever-increasing international truck traffic, Swiss voters chose a shift in transportation policy in February 1994 (Traffic Transfer Act, enacted in October 1999). A second law, the Alpine Protection Act of 1994,^[20] required a shift of as much tonnage as possible from truck transport to train transport.

The goal of both the laws is to transport trucks, trailers and freight containers between Southern Germany and Northern Italy by rail to relieve the overused roads by using intermodal freight transport and rolling highways (where the entire truck is transported). The GBT substantially contributes to the requirements of both laws.

Passenger trains will be able to travel up to 250 km/h (155 mph) through the GBT, reducing travel times for trans-Alpine train journeys by 50 minutes, and by one hour once the adjacent Zimmerberg and Ceneri Base Tunnels are completed.

As of 2016, the Gotthard Base Tunnel is the longest railway tunnel in the world. It is the third Swiss tunnel to bear this title, after the Gotthard Tunnel (15 km, 1882) and the Simplon Tunnel (19.8 km, 1905).^[21]

Description

Relative location and size of Gotthard Tunnel (1882) and Gotthard Base Tunnel (2016) both yellow. Red: open-air rail

Erstfeld

Bodio

End points of 2016 base tunnel

The Gotthard Base Tunnel is, with a length of 57.09 kilometres (35.47 mi), the longest railway tunnel in the world,^{[note 1]} with a geodetic distance of 55.782 kilometres (34.661 mi) between the two portals.^[4][8] It is also the first flat route through the Alps or any other major mountain range, with a maximum height of 549 metres (1,801 ft) above sea level.^[4] It is the deepest railway tunnel in the world, with a maximum depth of approximately 2,300 metres (7,500 ft),^[4] comparable to that of the deepest mines on Earth. Without ventilation, the temperature inside the mountain reaches 46 °C (115 °F).^[4]

Like the two other tunnels passing below the Gotthard, the Gotthard Base Tunnel connects two Alpine valleys separated by the Saint-Gotthard Massif: the Urner Reusstal in the canton of Uri, in which flows the river Reuss, and the Valle Leventina, the largest valley in the canton of Ticino, in which the river Ticino flows. Unlike most other tunnels, the Gotthard Base Tunnel passes under several distinct mountain massifs, two of them being major subranges of the Alps, the Glarus Alps and the Saint-Gotthard Massif, with the valley of the Anterior Rhine, the Surselva in the canton of Graubünden, between them. The tunnel passes under these two ranges more than 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) below the Chrüzlistock (2,709 m (8,888 ft)) and the Piz Vatgira (2,983 m (9,787 ft), near the Lukmanier Pass). While the cantons of Uri and Ticino are part of the German- and Italian-speaking areas of Switzerland respectively, the Surselva is mainly Romansh-speaking.

The Alps strongly influence the European climate – and that of Switzerland in particular – and there can be substantially different weather conditions at each end of the GBT with, on some days, temperature differences of well over 10 °C (18 °F). On average, the temperature is 2 to 3 °C (4–5 °F) higher on the south side than the north side.^{[note 2]}

The north portal lies in the north of the municipality of Erstfeld at an elevation of 460 metres (1,510 ft), east of the Reuss. There, the tunnel penetrates the western slopes of the Bälmeten and Chli Windgällen (although only marginally) before passing below the valley of the Chärstelenbach, a creek in the Maderanertal. From there, the tunnel runs parallel to the small valley of Etzli, below the Witenalpstock. The main crest of the Glarus Alps, which is the watershed between the Reuss and the Anterior Rhine, is crossed below the Chrüzlistock, the crest having an elevation of about 2,700 metres (8,900 ft) at this point. From the crest and border, the tunnel runs parallel to the small valley of the river Strem (Val Strem) before passing below Sedrun and the Anterior Rhine. From the bottom of the valley, the tunnel proceeds towards the valley of the Rein da Nalps (Val Nalps) and passes east of Lai da Nalps, before crossing the Gannaretsch range below the western summit of Piz Vatgira (2,981 metres (9,780 ft)). This is the deepest point of the tunnel, with a rock layer of more than 2,300 metres (7,500 ft) above it. The tunnel then passes below the valley of the Rein da Medel (Val Medel) and west of Lai da Sontga Maria. After a few kilometres the tunnel crosses the watershed between the Anterior Rhine and the Ticino, just north of Pizzo dell'Uomo (2,525 metres (8,284 ft)). This point corresponds to the main chain of the Alps, and is the main drainage divide between the Rhine and the Po. For a few kilometres, the tunnel passes below two western tributaries of the Brenno in the Valle Santa Maria before crossing the last range, west of the Passo Predèlp (about 2,500 metres (8,200 ft)) and east of Faido. It then follows the eastern slopes of the large Valle Leventina, the valley of the Ticino, for about 18 kilometres (11 mi) to the south portal at Bodio, at an elevation of 312 metres (1,024 ft), just 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) before Biasca, where the Benno converges with the Ticino.

The closest railway stations to the portals are Altdorf and Biasca.^{[note 3]}

Gotthard Base Tunnel diagram, the new railway link through the Alps NRLA (green: → excavation direction).

Construction

AlpTransit Gotthard AG is responsible for construction. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB CFF FFS).

To cut construction time in half, four access tunnels were built so that construction could start at four different sites simultaneously: Erstfeld, Amsteg, Sedrun, and Faido. A fifth at Bodio was added later. The two tunnels are joined approximately every 325 m (1,066 ft) by connecting galleries. Trains can move between the tunnels in the two multifunction stations at Sedrun and Faido. These stations house ventilation equipment and technical infrastructure and serve as emergency stops and evacuation routes.^[11]

Access to the Sedrun station site is by a level access tunnel 1 km (0.6 mi) long from the valley floor near Sedrun. At the end of the access tunnel, two vertical shafts lead 800 m (2,625 ft) down to the base tunnel level. A proposal to construct a functioning railway station, called Porta Alpina, at this site was evaluated, but the project was put on hold in 2007 and definitively cancelled by the federal authorities in 2012 as uneconomical.^[25]

The final breakthrough in the east tube occurred on 15 October 2010 at 14:17 +02:00.^[26][27] The final breakthrough in the west tube occurred on 23 March 2011 at 12:20.^[28][29]

On 16 December 2013, the operational test phase started on a 13-kilometre (8.1 mi) stretch in the southern section of the west tube between Faido and Bodio. Its purpose was to test the infrastructure and any ancillary systems.^[30]

On 31 October 2014, the railway track installation was completed. A gold sleeper on the very last part of the track was installed during the event to mark this milestone of progress.^[31][32]

Allocation of work

Aerial view of the Erstfeld area (north portal) in 2009

The contracts were awarded in sections:

• Erstfeld (the 7.7 km (4.8 mi) section from Erstfeld to Amsteg), with two tunnel boring machines (TBM) boring the two tubes. The break-through of the east tube between Erstfeld and Amsteg took place on 15 June 2009. The portal area was surface-mined.
• Amsteg (the 11.3 km (7.0 mi) section from Amsteg to north of Sedrun), ARGE AGN (Strabag and Züblin Murer) received the contract for work in this sector.^[33] On 9 December 2009, the Amsteg section was officially delivered to the owner for fitting-out,^[34] with civil engineering, construction, concrete and lining work completed in early 2010.^[35]
• Sedrun (the 8.6 km (5.3 mi) East tube and 8.7 km (5.4 mi) West tube in the section immediately north and south of Sedrun), along with work performed by Transco (Bilfinger SE, Implenia, Frutiger and Impresa Pizzarotti).^[36][37] The final breakthrough in the west tube occurred in March 2011.^[38] The northbound tubes from Amsteg to the Sedrun multifunction station (north) were handed over to the railway systems contractor Transtec Gotthard on 15 September 2011, the date specified in the construction schedule.^[39]
• Faido (13.4 km (8.3 mi) East tube and 13.6 km (8.5 mi) West tube in the section from south of Sedrun to Faido), with Consorzio TAT (Alpine Mayreder Bau, CSC Impresa costruzioni, Hochtief and Implenia and Impregilo).^[40]
• Bodio (15.9 km (9.9 mi) East tube and 15.6 km (9.7 mi) West tube in the section from Faido to Bodio), with work performed by Consorzio TAT (Alpine Mayreder Bau, CSC Impresa costruzioni, Hochtief, Implenia and Impregilo).^[40] Civil engineering construction, concrete and lining works were completed in early 2010.^[35]

Deaths during construction

Nine workers lost their lives during construction; one in the Amsteg section, two in the Sedrun section, and three each in the southernmost Faido and Bodio sections.^[16] These were:

• Andreas Reichhardt (33) from Gera, Germany, the first victim of the tunnel construction, was hit by a boring bar that fell down 700 m, on 8 June 2000.^[41]
• Jacques Du Plooy (23) from South Africa, was buried by excavation material on 12 March 2002.^[42]
• Heiko Bujack (35) from Harbke, Germany, was hit by a rock on 3 April 2003.^[43]
• Albert Ginzinger (37) from Mauterndorf, Austria, was killed by being crushed by a toppling cable drum on 11 September 2003.^[44][45]
• Andrea Astorino (31) from Italy and Salvatore di Benedetto (23) from Giubiasco, Switzerland, were hit by a colliding mine train on 21 January 2005.^[46][47]
• Thorsten Elsemann from Oberhausen, Germany, was crushed to death by a mine train on 23 November 2006.^[48]
• Hans Gammel from Germany was catapulted out of an inspection train on 24 June 2010.^[49]
• Giuseppe Liuzzo from Naso, Italy, fell from a scaffold on 16 July 2012.^[50]

Politics

The realization of the GBT, as the largest part of the NRLA, is also a prototypical example about direct democracy in Switzerland. In order to succeed this mega-project the political institutions also had to overcome many parliamentary sessions and several major popular votes, including the following:^[51]

• 27 September 1992, NRLA proposal (optional referendum): The final proposal by the Federal Council was accepted by 63.6% yes votes (declined by 1+2/2 cantons, turnout 45.9%)^[52][53]
• 20 February 1994, Alps Initiative (federal popular initiative): Initiated by a few private people with the goal to protect the Alpine environment from the negative impact of traffic was accepted^[54] by 51.9% yes votes (declined by 7 cantons, turnout 41%).^[55][56] The initiative was accepted despite the recommendation by the Federal Council from 12 February 1992 to decline the initiative without any counterproposal,^[56][57] and despite the parliamentary recommendation (both chambers) from 18 June 1993 to decline the initiative.^[56][58]
• 29 November 1998, Public Transport Funding (mandatory referendum): A total budget of CHF 30 billion for several public transport projects was accepted by 63.5% yes votes (declined by 1+3/2 cantons, turnout 38.3%); "the NRLA is to receive CHF 13.6 billion"^[59][60]
• 21 May 2000, Bilateral EU Agreements / 40-tonne Trucks / Heavy Traffic Fee (optional referendum): As part of a whole package of several bilateral agreements with the EU the Swiss accepted by 67.2% yes votes (declined by 2 cantons, turnout 48.3%) also the shift of an upper limit for trucks from 28 tonnes to 40 tonnes, but at the same time the EU agreed on a new heavy traffic fee, which will also be used to finance the NRLA^[61][62]
• 17 December 2003, Ceneri Base Tunnel (parliamentary session): A controversial funding of the Ceneri Base Tunnel was finally passed by parliamentary approval only, the possibility for an optional referendum was not raised by any political groups, nor by the public. The then in charge transport minister, Federal Councilor Moritz Leuenberger, is used to be quoted with: "This is the only way to make the railway [the Gotthard axis] a flat line between Basel and Chiasso."^[63]

Inauguration

On 31 May 2016, a day before the inauguration, the nine people who died during construction were commemorated in a ceremony at the north portal in Erstfeld that was led by a Catholic vicar general, a vicar of the Evangelical-Reformed Church of Uri, a Jewish rabbi, and a Muslim imam. A bronze memorial plaque with their names – four coming from Germany, three from Italy, and one from each of South Africa and Austria – was unveiled by AlpTransit Gotthard CEO Renzo Simoni.^[16] A Catholic shrine to Saint Barbara, the patron of miners, stands inside the tunnel as a memorial.^[64]

The tunnel was officially inaugurated on 1 June 2016.^[64] At the northern entrance in Erstfeld, Swiss Federal President Johann Schneider-Ammann spoke of a "giant step for Switzerland but equally for our neighbours and the rest of the continent", while a live relay carried a speech given by transport minister Doris Leuthard at the southern entrance in Bodio. The first journey carried hundreds of Swiss citizens who had won tickets in a draw, while the assembled guests in Erstfeld, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President François Hollande, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern, attended an opening show featuring dancers, acrobats, singers and musicians celebrating Alpine culture and history.^[64]

The Pollegio Control Centre (south portal) with a used tunnel boring machine cutter head on display

One of the tunnel boring machines that was used to create this tunnel.

Figures

Legend To Luzern, Zürich; Germany 0 Altdorf 4.4 North portal of base tunnel Erstfeld Gotthard railway 12.2 section Erstfeld 23.5 section Amsteg Sedrun MGB 32 Sedrunmultifunction station 45.5 Faidomultifunction station Gotthard railway Bodio 61.4 South portal of base tunnel Biasca 69.2 To Bellinzona; Italy

• Length:^[4]
  • Total: 151.840 km (94.349 mi)
  • Western tube: 57.017 km (35.429 mi)
  • Eastern tube: 57.104 km (35.483 mi)
• Diameter of each of the single-track tubes: 8.83–9.58 m (29.0–31.4 ft)^[4]
• Distance between cross passage tube: ca. 325 m (1,066 ft)^[4]
• Numbers of cross passage tubes: 178^[4][65]
• Maximum overburden: 2,300 m (7,500 ft) (at Piz Vatgira)^[4]
• Start of construction: 1993 (sounding drills), 1996 (preparations), 4 February 1999 (official start, first blasting), 2003 (mechanical excavation)
• Breakthrough: 15 October 2010 (Eastern tube),^[66] 23 March 2011 (Western tube)
• Commissioning: May 2016
• Inauguration/Opening: 1 June 2016
• Start of daily passenger service: 11 December 2016 (see public transport timetable#Switzerland)^[67]
• Total cost: CHF 9.74 billion^[66] (as of October 2010) (US$10.1 billion)
• Trains per day: 180–260 freight trains, 50 (65 from 2020) passenger trains^[65]
• Electrification system: 15 kV, 16.7 Hz^[4]
• Maximal speed: 249 kilometres per hour (154.7 mph)^[4]
• Operational speed: Freight trains – minimal 100 km/h (62 mph); Passenger trains – 200 km/h (124 mph)^[65]
• Travel time: Passenger trains – 20 minutes^[65]
• Safety rules: The safety requirements on the rolling stock will be similar to those of other long Swiss tunnels, including the ability for the emergency brake to be overridden.
• Amount of excavated rock: 28,200,000 t (31,100,000 short tons; 27,800,000 long tons),^[4][68] 13,300,000 m³ or 17,400,000 cu yd, the equivalent of 5 Giza pyramids
• Number of tunnel boring machines (TBM): Four Herrenknecht Gripper TBMs – Machine numbers S-210 and S-211 operated northbound from Bodio to Faido and Sedrun and were nicknamed Sissi and Heidi respectively; Machines S-229 and S-230 operated southbound from Erstfeld to Sedrun and were known as Gabi I and Gabi II.
  • Total length: 440 m (1,440 ft) (including back-up equipment)
  • Total weight: 3,000 t (3,300 short tons; 3,000 long tons)
  • Power: 5 MW
  • Max. excavation daily: 25–30 m (82–98 ft) (in excellent rock conditions)
  • Total excavation length by TBM: about 45 km (28 mi) (for each tube)
  • Manufacturer: Herrenknecht, Schwanau, Germany

Others

In 2016, the Swiss Post edited a special stamp to celebrate the inauguration of the Gotthard Base Tunnel.^[69][70]

See also

• List of tunnels by location
• Gotthard Railway Tunnel
• Gotthard Road Tunnel
• AlpTransit
• Saint-Gotthard Massif

Notes

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gotthard Base Tunnel.

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Gotthard Base Tunnel

• Official website
• Gottardo 2016, official inauguration website
  • SRF Gotthard – Die Eröffnung, official coverage and background information by SRF Swiss Radio and Television (German)
  • RTS Gothard – L'inauguration du tunnel, official coverage and background information by RTS Radio Télévision Suisse (French)
• Alptransit Gotthard AG official website
• Gotthard Base Tunnel at Structurae
• AGN Erstfeld Amsteg Constructors Web Site (many photos and designs)
• Faido Bodio Constructors Web Site (many photos and designs)

AlpTransit
Gotthard axis	Gotthard Base Tunnel Axen Tunnel Ceneri Base Tunnel Urmiberg Tunnel Zimmerberg Base Tunnel
Lötschberg axis	Lötschberg Base Tunnel Simplon Tunnel