Gotthard: Three days to go – let’s hope it holds!

Gotthard blog swissinfo.ch

Until a few days ago, the rock was being excavated at a rapid pace, for fear of not achieving the breakthrough on time.

Now people are hoping that the last part of the tunnel won’t cave in, which would ruin the celebrations.

In all, 29.424 km has been excavated in ten years from Bodio by the monster boring machine.

The progression table hanging up in the management’s offices has not been updated (at least not for the east tube) since last Saturday. The excavation has reached its target. Only 1.8 metres separate the Faido miners from their colleagues on the other side in Sedrun.

In the workers’ canteen you can hear murmurs as everyone hopes the last rocks don’t fall down to spoil the event. At worst, some concrete may have to be sprayed on the rocks to save the day. But I can just imagine the look on some faces if the tunnelers have to do a quick facelift after having blasted the rock with machines and explosives for years.

Luigi Jorio, Faido, October 12, 2010

This table keep tabs on the tunnel’s progression.

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