Miners on the 1.5km long south-bound Ferden drill and blast section of Switzerland’s 35km long Lötschberg high speed freight rail tunnel broke through to the Steg access tunnel last month.
The tunnel is one of four drill and blast tunnels launched simultaneously in May 2000 by the consortium – consisting of Losinger Sion SA, Evéquoz + Cie SA, Dénériaz Sion SA, Imboden Ulrich AG, Theler AG, Prader AG. There is another 1.5km long southbound tunnel, and two 6km long northbound tunnels, all of which have a cross section of 65m2.
The geology on this section is made up of gneiss, schist, amphibolites, granite and granodiorite.
The client is BLS AlpTransit AG, and construction of the complete Lötschberg tunnel should be completed by 2006.
