World’s longest railway tunnel, Gotthard Base Tunnel, Switzerland
Tunnel through the Alps
AFRY has helped link southern and northern Europe through the Swiss Alps via the Gotthard Base Tunnel – the longest railway tunnel in the world
With its 57 km, the Gotthard base tunnel is the longest railway tunnel in the world, and the core of the new transalpine railway axis AlpTransit.
The twin single track high speed rail tunnels run between Erstfeld and Bodio in Switzerland.
In connection with its planning and construction, AFRY provided environmental services, tunnelling, electromechanics, rail traffic and ventilation/safety.
The project included the construction of a 800 m vertical shaft and a 2 700 m inclined gallery, plus multifunction stations where adits meet the base tunnel. Certain stretches were particularly demanding, with soft rock under high pressure.
Client: AlpTransit Gotthard AG
Object: Gotthard Base tunnel
Location: Between Erstfeld and Bodio in Switzerland
Period: 1994 - 2016
Our role: Tunneling, environmental services, electromechanics, rail traffic and ventilation/safety.
Tunnelling: studies, preliminary design, tender design and construction design, tender process, tender evaluation, final design, site supervision
Environment: environmental impact assessments, landscape planning, environmental construction supervision, project assistance; Tunnelling: studies, preliminary design, tender design and construction design, tender process, tender evaluation, final design
Electromechanics: design, tender process for tunnel and railway facilities; Rail traffic: technical coordination and organisational support for the interdisciplinary Transtec Gotthard joint venture
Ventilation/safety: aerodynamic and thermodynamic studies, design of ventilation for construction and operation, design and tender process for operational and cross passage ventilation
