A breakthrough at the 57km Gotthard Base Tunnel is scheduled for October 15 between subsections Sedrun and Faido.
At the Sedrun segment, additional exploration of the rock under the breakthrough area took place this summer as a core bore with a length of more than 220m was driven west from a niche in the south drive. Except for relatively short lengths, constructor AlpTransit Gotthard found the bore indicated good geological conditions.
As of 1 October, 98.2 per cent of the tunnels, shafts and passages have been excavated. Roughly 38km on both the west and east tubes have completed linings and are ready for railway technology to be installed.
On the Faido side of the breakthrough both of the TBMs working in the west and east tubes had overhaul work carried out this summer. Following that, in the east, the TBM had an average daily advance rate in August of around 16.3m. To the west, the TBM was still in the area of reverse drive and the average daily advance rate was around 8.8m. By the end of the month the TBM had cut through that area and normal operation rates had returned.
Completion of the USD 9bn project is expected for 2017, and it will be the longest road or railway tunnel in the world.
