• Home
  • About
  • Favorite Articles
  • My Core Beliefs
  • Recommended Reading
  • The Gospel
  • What signs?
  • Why Prophecy?
  • Where do I start?

myBlessedHope

…while we wait for the blessed hope – the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ,… – Titus 2:13

Feeds:
Posts
Comments
« Currency tensions persist as markets await Fed
One-in-a-Million Shot Catches Lady Liberty Lightning Strike »

Drilling on world’s longest tunnel stretching 35.4 miles under the Alps is completed

October 15, 2010 by myblessedhope

Just for Fun…

Amazing pictures, and an amazing feat!  Think of the technology advancements it takes to be able to drill that far through a mountain and create the equipment that allows that to be done.  We are living in extraordinary times…

_________________________________________________________________

23 years in the making for just one hour off the travel time: Drilling on world’s longest tunnel stretching 35.4 miles under the Alps is completed

The drilling of the longest railway tunnel in the world has been completed, 14 years after it began.

The last few yards of rock were removed earlier today, opening the 35.4-mile Gotthard Base link through the Swiss Alps which will allow trains to transport goods and passengers to and from Italy – and shave an hour off journey times.

The £624m tunnel through the Gotthard massif, including the 8,200ft Piz Vatgira, is part of a larger project to remove heavy goods vehicles from roads in a bid to preserve Switzerland’s pristine Alpine landscape.

Breakthrough: The moment when the giant drilling machine smashes through the rock to complete the world's longest tunnel beneath the Swiss Alps
Breakthrough: The moment when the giant drilling machine smashes through the rock to complete the world’s longest tunnel beneath the Swiss Alps

 

Celebration: The tunnel has taken 14 years of digging - 23 years overall - and will not be ready until 2017
Celebration: The tunnel has taken 14 years of digging – 23 years overall – and will not be ready until 2017

 

Swiss voters, who are paying more than £800 each to fund the project, approved its construction in a series of referendums almost 20 years ago and will have to wait several more before it is ready for rail traffic.

Conservationists say the money was worth spending even if after 23 years of construction it will only take one hour off the length of a journey.

‘The Swiss love their mountains,’ said Thomas Brolli, a campaigner with the group Alpen-Initiative.

Big bit
Miners celebrate after the drill ‘Sissi’ broke through the rock at the final section Faido-Sedrun, at the construction site of the NEAT Gotthard Base Tunnel

 

It claimed a surprise victory in 1994 with a referendum to limit the number of heavy goods trucks allowed to cross the Alps each year to 650,000 – halving the current load – within two years of the tunnel’s opening.

‘Every Swiss has a link to the Alps, whether they were born there or go there on holiday,’ said Brolli.

A graphic from the original plans
A graphic from the original plans which shows how the different sections of the mountain were tunnelled through

 

Some 1.2 million trucks currently thunder through Switzerland’s mountainous countryside every year, harming rare plants and animals while adding to the erosion that is the Alps’ worst enemy.

With their beloved mountains crumbling, the Swiss decided that instead of simply stopping foreign trucks from passing through the country they would put their tunnel-building expertise to good use by completing a plan first conceived more than 60 years ago.

When it opens for traffic in 2017, the Gotthard Base Tunnel will supplant Japan’s 33.5-mile Seikan Tunnel as the world’s longest – excluding aqueducts – and allow millions more tons of goods to be transported quickly through the Alps by rail.

A further £8.7bn is being spent on a series of shorter tunnels and high-speed rail links that will ultimately allow high-speed trains from Germany to continue on through to Italy at up to 155 miles an hour, making rail journeys increasingly economically competitive.

For European transport ministers the project represents the first of a series of major rail tunnels meant to take the strain off congested Alpine road links.

Big bit
The railway tunnel through the Gotthard mountain constitutes the centrepiece of the New Railway Link through the Alps

 

A second would connect Lyon, France, to Turin in Italy, while a third would largely replace the Brenner road tunnel between Austria and Italy – currently one of the main transport arteries through the Alps.

Those projects are still a long way from completion and could yet be derailed by spending cuts as European governments scramble to fill holes in their budgets rather than drill new ones into the mountains.

Although Switzerland has weathered the financial crisis better than most of its neighbours, cost considerations might have tipped the scales had there not been a strong concern for the future of the mountains.

‘I am full of admiration for the Swiss ability to combine a modern advanced economy with pristine Alpine beauty, even when it is expensive to do so,’ said Jeffrey Frankel, an economics professor at Harvard and former Clinton adviser.  ‘I suspect no other country would have paid for this project.’

According to Brolli, the conservation campaigner, green ideas were inserted at every step of the tunneling process.

Some of the 459 million cubic feet of rock hewn from the mountain – enough to fill 13 Empire State buildings – are being used to restore Alpine lakes that were dredged for gravel.

And warm water, which flows deep under the mountains and can reach 50C, will be used to run fish farms, with one entrepreneur even hoping to provide Switzerland’s own source of sustainable caviar.

Gotthard Base Tunnel
Almost done: The Gotthard Base Tunnel opened at both ends on Friday, making it the world’s longest tunnel at more than 35 miles long

 

Gotthard Base Tunnel
Link: The tunnel will be ready for use in 2017 and will dramatically reduce the level of HGV traffic through the Swiss countryside

 

_________________________________________________________________

Click on the article title for a link to full original referenced article.

Share this:

  • Print
  • Email
  • Facebook

Like this:

Like Loading...

Related

Posted in End Times Prophecy, Just for Fun | Tagged alps, drilling through alps, end times prophecy, increase in knowledge, increase in travel, prophecy, world's longest tunnel |

  • God’s Word:

    "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." -- Ephesians 2:8-10
  • Recent Posts

    • The deep meaning of God’s word…
    • The hook in the mouth of the Gog…
    • A Thief in the Night…
    • Is The Bible True Or Not?
    • Apostasy from within…
    • At the tipping point or already on the downhill slide…
    • Mega-pastor: Ten Commandments no longer applicable
    • Deception – The Death of Journalism…
    • Dissecting Christ’s Declaration on Noah’s Day
    • English Bible Version Overview Diagram
    • Were the Pyramids Built Before the Flood? (Masoretic Text vs. Original Hebrew)
    • As in the Days of Noah…
    • The Atheist Delusion Movie
    • Jesus Only!
    • 2017: What a 15-day ride so far…
  • Categories

    • Aloha Sermon's & Prophecy updates (52)
    • Antichrist (110)
    • chart of the day (2)
    • Christian Persecution (272)
    • Church Falling Away (301)
    • Daily Scripture (3)
    • Days of Noah (310)
    • Deception (700)
    • Devotional (36)
    • Earthquakes (163)
    • End Times Prophecy (1,051)
    • Ezekiel 38 War (267)
    • Feasts (21)
    • Just for Fun (47)
    • Mark of the Beast (69)
    • My Thoughts (7)
    • One World Currency (289)
    • One World Government (347)
    • One World Religion (137)
    • Pestilence (103)
    • Prophecy Headlines (113)
    • Psalm 83 War (289)
    • Rapture (173)
    • Rebuilding the temple (30)
    • Restoring Honor (11)
    • Salvation (154)
    • Uncategorized (19)
    • Weather signs (243)
  • Pages

    • About
    • Favorite Articles
    • My Core Beliefs
      • I’m a Pre-Millennial, Pre-Tribulational Dispensationalist. A what???
      • Dispensational Truth: Part II
      • Dispensational Truth: Part III
      • Dispensational Truth: Part IV
    • Recommended Reading
    • The Gospel
    • What signs?
      • Re-Emergence of Israel
      • Jerusalem is a Burden to the World
      • The Dramatic Increase in Travel and Knowledge
      • Exponential Growth Marks the Times
      • Rise of the Gog / Magog Alliance
      • The Rise of Global Government
      • The Good News Preached Throughout the World
    • Why Prophecy?
    • Where do I start?
      • Seven Things You Have to Know to Understand End Times Prophecy
      • Sequence Of Major Events
      • Destiny Of The Three Components Of Humanity
      • Purpose And Length Of The Great Tribulation
      • Purpose Of The Rapture
      • Conditions Surrounding The 2nd Coming
      • Duration and Purpose of the Millennium
      • Eternity
      • Breaking down the Book of Revelation
  • News

    • CNS News
    • OneNewsNow.com
    • The Blaze
    • World Net Daily
  • Prophecy Links

    • Biblical Evangelism
    • creation.com
    • Ezekiel Watch
    • Frank Dimora's Blog
    • Grace Thru Faith
    • Joel Rosenberg's Blog
    • Living Water
    • Rapture Ready
    • The Truth Group
  • Supplies

    • Chirstian Books Superstore
    • Emergency Essentials
    • Food Insurance
  • Support

    • I am Second
    • In Touch Ministries
    • K-LOVE
    • Rizeup
    • Wallbuilders
  • Archives

    • April 2022 (3)
    • September 2018 (8)
    • August 2018 (2)
    • July 2017 (1)
    • January 2017 (3)
    • December 2016 (7)
    • November 2016 (3)
    • September 2016 (5)
    • July 2016 (5)
    • February 2016 (3)
    • November 2015 (1)
    • October 2015 (1)
    • September 2015 (6)
    • August 2015 (5)
    • July 2015 (2)
    • June 2015 (2)
    • May 2015 (2)
    • April 2015 (1)
    • March 2015 (6)
    • February 2015 (3)
    • January 2015 (1)
    • December 2014 (7)
    • November 2014 (3)
    • October 2014 (4)
    • September 2014 (18)
    • August 2014 (9)
    • July 2014 (2)
    • June 2014 (1)
    • May 2014 (5)
    • April 2014 (5)
    • March 2014 (11)
    • February 2014 (3)
    • December 2013 (9)
    • November 2013 (1)
    • October 2013 (1)
    • September 2013 (2)
    • August 2013 (15)
    • July 2013 (1)
    • June 2013 (10)
    • May 2013 (8)
    • April 2013 (10)
    • March 2013 (6)
    • February 2013 (21)
    • January 2013 (14)
    • December 2012 (17)
    • November 2012 (17)
    • October 2012 (20)
    • September 2012 (33)
    • August 2012 (39)
    • July 2012 (9)
    • June 2012 (23)
    • May 2012 (10)
    • April 2012 (12)
    • March 2012 (42)
    • February 2012 (13)
    • January 2012 (8)
    • December 2011 (2)
    • November 2011 (17)
    • October 2011 (8)
    • September 2011 (19)
    • August 2011 (12)
    • July 2011 (17)
    • June 2011 (7)
    • May 2011 (12)
    • April 2011 (6)
    • March 2011 (25)
    • February 2011 (7)
    • January 2011 (31)
    • December 2010 (23)
    • November 2010 (104)
    • October 2010 (194)
    • September 2010 (256)
    • August 2010 (241)
  • Meta

    • Register
    • Log in
    • Entries feed
    • Comments feed
    • WordPress.com

Blog at WordPress.com.

WPThemes.


  • Follow Following
    • myBlessedHope
    • Join 94 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • myBlessedHope
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Copy shortlink
    • Report this content
    • View post in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
%d bloggers like this: