Gotthard Base Tunnel: Construction of the Access Route in the Urner Reusstal Valley
Untertiteltext Englisch
A high-speed tunnel such as the Gotthard Base Tunnel can only be operated providing there is a correspondingly efficient access route. The northern access to the Base Tunnel is located in the Reusstal Valley in the Canton of Uri. Constructing in open terrain involves different challenges than posed by tunnelling. The required solutions are equally sophisticated.
The Gotthard Base Tunnel’s northern access has been under construction in the Reusstal since 2005 – a valley which already contains important transit routes: the Gotthard motorway A2 as well as the existing SBB Gotthard line. Pressure on the constricted space in the valley is correspondingly high. The 5 km long connecting route crosses residential areas, roads, waters and agricultural districts. The new rail embankment, over which trains will travel at speeds of 200 to 250 km/h in future, is 2 to 3 m high and up to 50 m wide. Apart from the rail track,...
