Gotthard excavation is finished

Excavation of the Gotthard Base Tunnel was completed earlier this month.

Five months on from the final breakthrough of the eastern drive, workers finished excavating the last metres of the west tube between Faido and Sedrun.

Breakthrough into the Sedrun section on 23 March by the Faido-launched TBM marked the end of excavations on the world’s longest transport tunnel, a continuous bore of over 57km.

Construction on this section of Gotthard began in 2001 in the south at Bodio. Preparatory work began in 1996, which included access tunnels and two 800m-deep shafts at Sedrun.

Contractor AlpTransit said that 56 per cent of the overall project was excavated by TBM, with the remaining 44 per cent by drill-and-blast. The full network totalled 152km of excavation.

“With the end of excavation under the Gotthard, a further important milestone has been reached in the construction of the world's longest railway tunnel,” said Renzo Simoni, CEO of AlpTransit Gotthard.

AlpTransit said that it would present the tunnel in operating condition to Swiss Federal Railways in May 2016 following tunnel lining operations and systems installation.