China is the name that comes to mind when talking about megaconstructions. The country has faced some of the most complex works of recent years and has pharaonic projects such as the new largest dam in the world or the most complicated tunnel. In this matter, Europe is not far behind with two projects that want to be the longest tunnels in the world in different is fields: the largest submerged tunnel, with 120 kilometers, and that of the world’s longest rail tunnel: the base of the Brennero.
A 2006 project that finally gives results.
Brennero’s base tunnel. We are talking about a work that has been dilated a lot, with several changes in estimated plans and dates of completion. The construction officially began in 2007, but the excavations did not start until 2015. It is part of the Scandinavia-Mediterranean European Corridor (or Scan-Med) and will have the Munich-Verona axis. The objective is to facilitate communication between countries by saving an imposing natural obstacle: Alps.
This is something important in order to improve the commercial and passenger network in Europe because the trains are becoming the tool to depend less on the plane in the way to decarbonization and, in addition to allowing a faster connection between Germany and Italy, much of the traffic traffic of alpine merchandise from the road to the railroad will be transferred. The idea is less traffic jams on roads, less CO₂ emissions and, obviously, an acceleration in logistics between northern and southern Europe.
Colossal. The characteristics of the tunnel impose. In total, it will have a length of 64 kilometers, which will make it, according to its drivers, into the longest railway tunnel in the world when it enters into operation. The main section between the Italian city of Fortezza and the Austrian Innsbruck will have about 55 kilometers in length and will be composed of two parallel tunnels with a single route each.
They will be connected every 333 meters by service tunnels to allow rapid evacuation in case of failure and something unique is that it will be a “flat” tunnel, with almost the entire journey to about 794 meters above sea level. This is necessary to allow trains to be operated with lower consumption, since in some current routes through the Alpine region there are trains that need several locomotives due to the inclination of the road.
Beyond transportation. The idea is that it allows the passage of merchandise trains of up to 3,000 tons and passenger trains that can circulate at high speed (250 km/h compared to the current 50 km/h average due to the demands of the land), but since they are piercing the mountain, they will take advantage of something else.
A dozen meters under the main galleries, there will be another five -meter diameter tunnel and others almost 56 kilometers long. It will be what is known as an exploratory tunnel, a channel that will allow geological research in that mountainous area, in addition to facilitating a drainage of groundwater.
State and next steps. At first, the bridge was going to be ready by 2025, but the estimates were changing. The Alps is a complex area due to the presence of underground failures and waters, which has forced both excavation methods and solutions to pass under rivers and the isarco. Administrative delays have also played a role in this story because Austria and Italy are building their respective sides of the tunnel. And the Covid-19 pandemic forced the work.
All this raised the initially planned budget of 6,000 million euros to almost 8.4 billion, but recently we have witnessed a green outbreak. Using excavators such as ‘Flavia’ that allow digging while the tunnel is, on September 18 the Italian and Austrian tunneladoras were found, achieving the underground connection between the two countries.
It was a milestone, but there is still work to do to cover the tunnels, display rail infrastructure and add both technical equipment and ventilation and signaling systems.
Piercing the Alps. The view is set in 2032, when it is estimated that the works will end and the tunnel can be exploited to move goods and passengers. Now, although colossal, it is not the only project that is currently under development in the Alpine region. Interestingly, several compete for being the longest railway tunnel in the world.
The other great exponent of this corridor is that of Mont Cenis who, with 57.5 kilometers, will join Lyon with Turin. There is also the base of San Gardardo with 57.1 kilometers (it will link the Swiss towns of Erstfeld and Bodio in Italy) and more ‘modest’ projects such as those of Koralm (32 km), Semmering (27 km), Ceneri (14.5 km) and Lötschberg (34.6 km).
Of course, the objective is the same: to facilitate transalpine transport to reduce CO₂ emissions and speed up the movement of both travelers and merchandise. We will see if, now, construction deadlines are fulfilled.
Images | BBT-SE
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