Swiss exult at tunnel milestone
Source: Agencies |
October 16, 2010, Saturday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
SWISS engineers smashed through the last stretch of rock yesterday to create the world's longest tunnel, sparking a national groundswell of elation over a costly, technically difficult project that has been 60 years in the making.
Trumpets sounded, cheers reverberated and even burly workers wiped away tears as foreman Eduard Baer lifted a statue of Saint Barbara - the patron saint of miners - through a small hole in the enormous drilling machine thousands of meters underground in central Switzerland.
At that moment, a 57-kilometer tunnel was born, and the Alpine nation reclaimed the record from Japan. European television showed the event live.
"This is the most wonderful moment in my 36 years of tunnel building," Baer said as he paused for breath, surrounded by joyous colleagues in hard hats and bright orange work gear, VIPs and news cameras.
The new Gotthard Base Tunnel is seen as an important milestone in the creation of a high-speed transportation network connecting all corners of Europe.
First conceived in 1947 by engineer Eduard Gruner, it will allow millions of tons of goods that are currently transported through the Alps on heavy trucks to be shifted onto the rails, particularly on the economically important link between the Dutch port of Rotterdam and Italy's Mediterranean port of Genoa.
Peter Fueglistaler, director of the Swiss Federal Office of Transport, called Friday "a day of joy for Switzerland."
Some 2,500 workers have spent nearly 20 years smashing through the rock beneath the towering Gotthard massif.
Asked whether he thought the large, ongoing protests in the German city of Stuttgart could derail the project, he said: "Overall I'm confident that these connections will be built in time."
The protesters in Stuttgart oppose plans to move the city's station underground, viewing the US$5.7 billion project as a waste of money. Supporters say it will free up the city's packed center and help shorten journeys across Europe.
Trumpets sounded, cheers reverberated and even burly workers wiped away tears as foreman Eduard Baer lifted a statue of Saint Barbara - the patron saint of miners - through a small hole in the enormous drilling machine thousands of meters underground in central Switzerland.
At that moment, a 57-kilometer tunnel was born, and the Alpine nation reclaimed the record from Japan. European television showed the event live.
"This is the most wonderful moment in my 36 years of tunnel building," Baer said as he paused for breath, surrounded by joyous colleagues in hard hats and bright orange work gear, VIPs and news cameras.
The new Gotthard Base Tunnel is seen as an important milestone in the creation of a high-speed transportation network connecting all corners of Europe.
First conceived in 1947 by engineer Eduard Gruner, it will allow millions of tons of goods that are currently transported through the Alps on heavy trucks to be shifted onto the rails, particularly on the economically important link between the Dutch port of Rotterdam and Italy's Mediterranean port of Genoa.
Peter Fueglistaler, director of the Swiss Federal Office of Transport, called Friday "a day of joy for Switzerland."
Some 2,500 workers have spent nearly 20 years smashing through the rock beneath the towering Gotthard massif.
Asked whether he thought the large, ongoing protests in the German city of Stuttgart could derail the project, he said: "Overall I'm confident that these connections will be built in time."
The protesters in Stuttgart oppose plans to move the city's station underground, viewing the US$5.7 billion project as a waste of money. Supporters say it will free up the city's packed center and help shorten journeys across Europe.
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