The Swiss and many other European dignitaries celebrated the opening of the World’s longest and deepest tunnel last week, the Gotthard Base Tunnel, after 17 years of construction. The tunnel beneath the Swiss Alps is 57-kilometers long (35-miles long) reaching a depth of 2,300 meters (7,545 feet, almost 1.5 miles). The tunnel will create a high-speed rail link between northern and southern Europe. Trains will travel the tunnel, which runs between the towns of Erstfeld in the north and Bodio in the south, in only 20 minutes, reaching speeds of up to 250 kilometers an hour (155 mph), according to CNN. [Source: CNN via AGC SmartBrief. Image: Global Rail News]
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TBM Stuck on Pittsburgh North Short Connector Project
ENR reports that a Tunnel Boring Machine or TBM is stuck for the second time in two weeks on Pittsburgh’s light rail expansion project dubbed the North Shore Connector Project. As we described in a previous post, the project will consist primarily of a tunnel underneath the Allegheny River. The drilling began the week of March 3 and has been progressing at a rate of 30-ft/day or 5-ft/day faster than the original goals. Read on for a location map of the project, or download the Google Earth KMZ file showing the project area. (File photo of TBM)
Devil’s Slide Tunnel Construction Kicks Off
On September 17, CALTRANS and Kiewit Pacific held a "tunnel excavation celebration" to kick off the start of tunnel construction on The Devil’s Slide Tunnels project on California State Route 1 (the Pacific Coast Highway) in San Mateo County between the town of Montara to the south and the city of Pacifica to the north. The project involves the creation of a separated two-lane road, one lane in each direction. This road will pass through twin tunnels, over twin bridges and connect with an existing non-separated two-lane road at each end. The new road will be approximately 6,500 feet long, made up of the roughly 4,000-foot twin tunnels, the 1,500-foot north approach road (which includes the 1000-foot parallel bridges), and the 1,000-foot south approach road. Upon completion, the new road will bypass geologically unstable portions of existing Route 1, sections of roadway subject to lengthy closures, high maintenance costs over the years, and risk of permanent failure. Thanks Geology.com for the heads up. [Read on for more background, photos, maps, and movies!] (Images by CALTRANS)