What is unique about the Gotthard Base Tunnel?
What is unique about the Gotthard Base Tunnel?
With a route length of 57.09 km (35 mi 38 ch), it is the world’s longest railway and deepest traffic tunnel and the first flat, low-level route through the Alps.
Where is the deepest tunnel in the world?
Gotthard Base Tunnel, Switzerland The Gotthard Base Tunnel is the world’s longest and deepest tunnel. It runs under the Swiss alps between the towns of Erstfeld in the north and Bodio in the south. The tunnel is 57 km long and reaches a depth of 2,300 meters.
Why is the Gotthard tunnel so deep?
For one, the Swiss constructed two separate tunnels for each direction at 57 km a pop. But to keep the tracks as level as possible, they had to drill 2300 meters below the mountain. This makes the Gotthard Base Tunnel the deepest tunnel on Planet Earth.
Where is the longest tunnel in the world?
With its 24.5 kilometers, Laerdal tunnel is the longest in the world, traversing several mountainous formations between Laerdal and Aurland, in western Norway.
Can you drive through the Gotthard tunnel?
The Gotthard Tunnel is the core and culminating point of the A2 motorway in Switzerland, running south from Basel through the tunnel down to Chiasso on the border with Italy. Traffic flows through only one tunnel, which carries traffic both ways, with each direction allocated one lane.
Who paid for the Gotthard tunnel?
Swiss taxpayers
Split-screen TV images Wednesday showed two trains in opposite directions entering and leaving the tunnel entrances nearly simultaneously. The project, funded in part by Swiss taxpayers and fees on trucks, received financial support and industrial know-how from around the European Union.
How long did it take to build the Gotthard tunnel?
17 years
The Gotthard base tunnel is 57km and in some places 2.3km from the surface. Without ventilation, the temperature inside the tunnel system is 46C (115F). The project took 17 years to build and cost 12.2bn Swiss francs.
Why do tunnels get hot?
But the heavy, dense clays and chalks that supported the construction of so many tunnels in the region are also remarkably good thermal insulators, which means they hold onto a lot of heat. As the number of trains using the tunnels has increased, so too has the temperature of the tunnel walls.
How much does it cost to go through the Gotthard tunnel?
Gotthard Road Tunnel
Overview | |
---|---|
Toll | none (included in the mandatory Vignette) |
Vehicles per day | 17354 (2014) |
Technical | |
Length | 16.9 kilometres (10.5 mi) |
How long does it take to go through the Gotthard tunnel?
about 20 minutes
As a general rule, passenger trains travel through the Gotthard Base Tunnel at a speed of 200 km/h. This means that the journey through the tunnel takes about 20 minutes.
How many workers died building the Gotthard tunnel?
nine workers
Although not nearly as many workers died as for the first tunnel, the building of the Gotthard Base Tunnel still resulted in the deaths of nine workers. The new Gotthard Base Tunnel is the centerpiece of the New Railway Link Through the Alps (NRLA).