Gotthard Tunnel -- the Longest Tunnel in the World
August 24, 2015, Switzerland government declared that Gotthard Tunnel track had been laid completely. It is the longest tunnel in the world at moment, overall length is about 35 miles, which has surpassed Seikan Tunnel in Japan.
Construction of this tunnel was in 1996, after about 20 years and 10.3 billion dollars, it is ready to be shown to the world. There are more than 2,000 workers participating in this project and 2 million-trucks soil and rock were delivered out. After its usage, it will largely relieve the pressure of transportation
Gotthard Tunnel is from Switzerland to Italy, and it passes through the Alps. If passengers go through this tunnel, it will cost only 2 hours and 50 minutes from Zurish, Switzerland to Milan, Italy, 1 hour earlier than present speed.
The topography of the Alps in Switzerland is complicated, the terrain is steep, but this new tunnel is quite flat, the speed of train can reach 150 miles one hour.
Gotthard Basis Tunnel has two parallel tunnels and each tunnel has one track. It is a part of Alp Transit Plan. The first security test was finished on August 26 and all the tests will be started in October. It is predicted that on New Year’s Day of 2016, there will 1,000 passengers taking on the train and this tunnel will be opened to traffic in 2017.
This big project absolutely needs a reliable and strong TBM (Tunnel Boring Machine), that is 400-meter TBM. The diameter is 9.58 meters, weight is 2,700 tons, output power is 3,500 KW and its speed is 35-40 square meters a day (according to terrain conditions), which brought great help to this tunnel.
From this project, what Sinorock will do is to enhance technology, improve products’ quality and increase products’ practicality to suit for different conditions and bring people convenience.
