October 10, 1962, southern entrance: 500 miners worked round the clock on the tunnel.
(Keystone)
Keystone
April 10 1965: Engineers, miners and officials prepare the rock for the final breakthrough.
(Keystone)
Keystone
April 10 1965: Time for the miners to celebrate.
(RDB)
RDB/ATP/Kuhn
November 1967: The southern entrance seen a few days before the inauguration.
(Keystone)
Keystone
December 1, 1967: Home affairs minister Hans-Peter Tschudi (in middle) during the inauguration event.
(Keystone)
Keystone
December 1, 1967: One of the many covered sections of road leading to the tunnel.
(RDB)
RDB/ATP/H. Schenker
Winter 1968: The road tunnel is designed to be kept open all year round, in order to secure the link between the two mountain cantons, Ticino in the south and Graubünden in the southeast.
(Keystone)
Keystone
April 1968: Before the new access road to the tunnel was built, traffic was directed through many villages like Grono (pictured).
(Keystone)
Keystone
January 1969: An accounting system was installed to count the number of vehicles using the tunnel each day.
(Keystone)
Keystone
January 1969: A scene inside the tunnel's control centre.
(Keystone)
Keystone
July 1969: A new road from Ticino's capital, Bellinzona to the tunnel would be the last link needed on the north-south route.
(Keystone)
Keystone
Switzerland inaugurated the first Alpine road tunnel entirely within its own borders 50 years ago on December 1.
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Born in England, I've lived in Switzerland since 1994. I trained as a graphic designer in Zurich between 1997 – 2002. More recently I have moved on to work as photo editor and joined the team at swissinfo.ch in March 2017.
Stefania Summermatter (text) and Helen James (photo editor)
Already known in Roman times, the San Bernardino is one of the oldest passes in the Alps and has been an important European junction.
Drilling began in 1962, and progressed slowly – an average of 115 metres per month were excavated on the south side and 95 metres a month on the north. After three years, the breakthrough came on April 10, 1965.
The official inauguration – two years later – took place in the presence of representatives from five European countries: Austria, Italy, Germany, Liechtenstein and Switzerland.
The then Swiss home affairs minister, Hans-Peter Tschudi, told Swiss public television, RSI, that the 6.6km tunnel was a testament to the country’s pioneering role in the construction of road and rail infrastructure across the Alps.
“Geography and history gave Switzerland the task of opening up and securing the Alpine passes and thus entrusted it with an essential role as a mediator between north and south. With the new functional San Bernardino tunnel, we reconfirm this European mission of ours. “
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A report by the Federal Roads Office presented by the cabinet recommends closing the key traffic artery for up to two and a half years to carry out the extensive work. The repairs will not begin before 2020 and will cost as much as SFr752 million ($782 million). The authorities must decide whether to close…
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There is only the sound of the large machine eating away the last few inches of rock. The ground shakes. All eyes are on the thin rocky barrier still dividing the tunnel. Everyone looks for the first cracks to appear, the first pieces to break off. Hearts are beating quickly: there’s lots of emotion. I’m…
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You could build a small, two-storey house in here. With a garden. Even though there is 2,500 metres of solid rock between me and ground level, I don’t feel claustrophobic. Inch by inch, man has dug a hole into the bowels of the mountain and theoretically, could live in here. It’s an underworld created by…
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here. Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.