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Turnout at Faido multifunction station
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| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Line | AlpTransit |
| Location | Switzerland (Uri, Graubünden and Ticino) |
| Coordinates | 46.600°N 8.765°ECoordinates: 46.600°N 8.765°E |
| Status | Opened[1] |
| Start | Erstfeld (Uri) |
| End | Bodio (Ticino) |
| Operation | |
| Work begun | 1996 |
| Opened | 1 June 2016[2] |
| Technical | |
| Length | 151.840 km (94.349 mi)[3] |
| Line length | 57.09 km (35.47 mi)[3] |
| Track length | 57.104 km (35.483 mi) (east tunnel) 57.017 km (35.429 mi) (west tunnel)[3] |
| No. of tracks | 2 single track tubes[3] |
| 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)[3] |
| Lowest elevation | 312 m (1,024 ft) (at Bodio)[3] |
| Tunnel clearance | 89 m (292 ft) from Erstfeld, 237 m (778 ft) from Bodio[3] |
| Grade | 4.055/1000 (north) / 6.67/1000 (south)[3] |
| Route map | |
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The Gotthard Base Tunnel (GBT) is a railway tunnel through the Alps in Switzerland, which opened on 1 June 2016 with full service to begin in December 2016.[4] 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,[3] it is the world’s longest and deepest traffic tunnel[5][6] and the first flat low-level route through the Alps.[7]
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.[8] 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 total transport capacity across the Alps, especially for freight, notably on the Rotterdam-Basel-Genoa corridor, and more particularly to shift freight volumes from road to rail to reduce fatal crashes and environmental damage caused by ever-increasing numbers of heavy lorries. Another benefit will be to 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 about an hour and from Lucerne to Bellinzona to 1 hour 25 minutes.[9]
After 64 percent of Swiss voters accepted the AlpTransit project in a 1992 referendum, tunnel construction began in 1996.[10] Drilling operations in the eastern tunnel were completed on 15 October 2010 in a breakthrough ceremony broadcast live on Swiss TV,[11] and in the western tunnel on 23 March 2011. AlpTransit Gotthard Ltd. planned to hand over the tunnel to Swiss Federal Railways (SBB CFF FFS) in operating condition in December 2016;[12] but on 4 February 2014, the handover date was changed to 5 June 2016 with the commencement of an 850-day opening countdown calendar on the AlpTransit homepage.[2] Total projected cost of the project was 9.8 billion Swiss francs, €8.85 billion or US$10.3 billion[11] but the final cost exceeded $12bn.[13]
Contents
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Background
The route over the Gotthard Pass (or through its tunnels) is one of the most important passages through the Alps on the north-south axis. Traffic has increased more than tenfold since 1980 and the existing tunnels are at their capacity limits.[14] A second (proposed) tunnel was to be constructed only if the volume of traffic rose above one million vehicles a year. In fact, the Engineer Giovanni Lombardi, 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”.[15]
The Gotthard Tunnel and the Gotthard Base Tunnel (yellow: major tunnels, red: open-air rail)
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, theGotthardbahn, only trains up to 1,300 t (1,400 short tons; 1,300 long tons)[16] when using two locomotives or up to 1,500 t (1,700 short tons; 1,500 long tons) with an additional bank engineat 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.[citation needed]
When the tunnel is completed, 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, the Swiss voted in February 1994 for a shift in transportation policy (Traffic Transfer Act, enacted in October 1999).[citation needed]
The goal of both the laws (and the goal of the GBT, which is one of the means by which the law will achieve its objective) is to transport trucks, trailers and freight containers between southern Germany and northern Italy by rail to relieve the overused roads (intermodal freight transport and so-called rolling highway where the entire truck is transported) and to meet the political requirement of shifting as much tonnage as possible from truck transport to train transport, as required by the Alpine Protection Act of 1994.[17]
Passenger trains will be able to travel up to 250 km/h (155.3 mph) through the GBT, reducing travel times for trans-Alpine train journeys by 50 minutes, and by one hour once the adjacentZimmerberg and Ceneri Base Tunnels are completed.
In 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).[18]
Description
The Gotthard Base Tunnel is, with a length of 57.09 kilometres (35.47 mi), the longest railway tunnel in the world,[19] with a geodetic distance of 55.782 kilometres (34.661 mi) between the two portals.[3][6] 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.[3] It is therefore the deepest railway tunnel in the world, with a maximum depth of approximately 2,300 metres (7,500 ft),[3] comparable to that of the deepest mines on earth. Without ventilation, the temperature inside the mountain reaches 46 °C (115 °F).[3]
Like the two other tunnels passing below the Gotthard, the Gotthard Base Tunnel connects the Alpine valley of the Reuss (Urner Reusstal) in the canton of Uri to that of the Ticino (Leventina) in the homonymous canton, valleys separated by the Gotthard Pass. However, unlike these two and 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 (Surselva), in the canton of Graubünden, between them. The tunnel crosses these two ranges in the vicinity of the Chrüzli Pass and 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.
Because the Gotthard Base Tunnel fully crosses the Alps, the latter range strongly influencing the European climate and that of Switzerland in particular, it can see drastically different weather conditions at the two ends, with, some days, differences of well over 10 °C. On average, the temperature is 2 to 3 °C higher on the south side than the north side.[20]
The north portal lies in the north of the municipality of Erstfeld at an elevation of 460 metres and east of the Reuss. There, the tunnel penetrates the western slopes of the Bälmeten and Chli Windgällen, although marginally, before passing below the valley of the Chärstelenbach (Maderanertal). From there, the tunnel runs parallel to the small valley of the Etzlibach, 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 at this point. From the crest and border, the tunnel runs parallel to the small valley of the 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 Piz Vatgira or, more precisely, its western summit (2,981 metres). This is the deepest point of the tunnel, with a rock layer of approximately 2,500 metres. 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 that the tunnel crosses the watershed between the Anterior Rhine and the Ticino, just north of Pizzo dell’Uomo at an elevation of about 2,600 metres. 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 the valley of the Brenno (Valle Santa Maria) before crossing the last range, between Pizzo del Soleand Pizzo di Campello, at an elevation of about 2,500 metres. It then passes below the western slopes of this range, until its end at the Matro. The south portal lies in the municipality of Bodio, just east of the Ticino, at an elevation of 312 metres. The closest railway stations to the portals are Altdorf and Biasca.[21]
Construction
The Pollegio Control Centre (south portal) with a used tunnel boring machine on display
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 (a fifth was added later) different sites simultaneously (Erstfeld, Amsteg, Sedrun, Faido and Bodio). The two tunnels are joined approximately every 325 m (1,066 ft) by connecting galleries. Trains can swap tunnels in the two multifunction stations (MFS) at Sedrun and Faido. These stations will house ventilation equipment and technical infrastructure and will serve as emergency stops and evacuation routes upon tunnel completion.[8]
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 which 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 shelved by the federal authorities in 2012 as uneconomical.[22]
The final breakthrough in the east tube occurred on 15 October 2010 at 14:17 +02:00.[23] The final breakthrough in the west tube occurred on Wednesday 23 March 2011 at 12:20.[24][25]
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 is to test the infrastructure and any ancillary systems.[26]
On 31 October 2014, the railway track installation was completed. A gold sleeper—marking the very last part of the track—was installed during the event to mark this milestone of progress.[27][28]
Nine workers died during the construction work.[29]
Gotthard Base Tunnel diagram, the new railway link through the Alps NRLA (green: → excavation direction).
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 15 June 2009. The portal area was surface-mined, and drilling and blasting for the two branches is complete.
- 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.[30] On 9 December 2009, the Amsteg section was officially delivered to the owner for fitting-out.[31] Civil engineering, construction, concrete and lining work are complete.[32]
- 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).[33][34] The final breakthrough in the west tube occurred in March 2011.[35] Civil engineering construction, concreting and lining work are complete on Sedrun North. 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.[36]
- 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) is operational.[37]
- Bodio (a 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).[37]Civil engineering construction, concrete and lining works are complete.[32]
Specifications
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- Length:[3]
- Western tunnel: 57.017 km (35.429 mi)
- Eastern tunnel: 57.104 km (35.483 mi)
- Total length of all tunnels and shafts: 151.840 km (94.35 mi)
- Diameter of each of the single-track tubes: 8.83–9.58 m (29.0–31.4 ft)
- Distance between cross passage tunnels: ca. 325 m (1,066 ft)
- Maximum overburden: 2,300 m (7,500 ft) (at Piz Vatgira)
- Start of construction: 1993 (sounding drills), 1996 (preparations), 2003 (mechanical excavation)
- End of construction: 2016
- Commissioning: May 2016
- Total cost: CHF 9.74 billion[38] (as of October 2010) (US$10.1 billion)
- Trains per day: 200–250
- Electrification System: 15 kV, 16.7 Hz
- Safety rules: The safety requirements on the rolling stock will be similar to other long Swiss tunnels, like possibility to override the emergency brake. This is in contrast to the Channel Tunnel which has several unique safety rules requiring custom made trains.
- Amount of excavated rock: 28,200,000 t (31,100,000 short tons; 27,800,000 long tons),[39] (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 Heidirespectively; 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
- Between 2002 and 2012, nine people lost their lives during construction.[40]
