The cause of the damage in the Gotthard road tunnel has been identified as "stress redistribution in the local mountains", which led to pressure changes and then to a crack in the intermediate ceiling, the Federal Roads Office (FRO) announced this on Wednesday.
This content was published on
2 minutes
Keystone-SDA
Such stress shifts in the mountains could put a lot of strain on structures – such as tunnels, according to a statement. As a result, similar damage occurred in the Gotthard road tunnel in 1985.
More
More
Why is the Gotthard Base Tunnel so important?
This content was published on
The historical, commercial and political significance of the world’s longest railway tunnel.
There are several possibilities why these rearrangements could occur: movements in the mountain, construction work or even tectonic influences. FRO is therefore in contact with the Swiss Seismological Service, which recorded a “seismic signal” on Sunday afternoon at 4:10 p.m.
It is currently being clarified whether this signal is related to the events in the tunnel.
In any case, FRO could rule out structural conditions of the tunnel as the cause of the damage, it said. Construction work is on track and FRO expects to be able to open the tunnel to traffic this week.
This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles. You can find them here.
If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.
External Content
Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Almost finished… We need to confirm your email address. To complete the subscription process, please click the link in the email we just sent you.
Popular Stories
More
Aging society
No house generation: the impossibility of buying property in Switzerland
‘Imminent’ landslide threat: authorities order full evacuation of Swiss mountain village
This content was published on
The local authorities have ordered the complete evacuation of the village of Blatten and its 300 residents due to "imminent" dangers.
Swiss health survey: 52% of men are overweight, 34% of women
This content was published on
The results of the Swiss Health Survey 2022 reveal clear differences between men and women: 55% of women and 44% of men live with at least one chronic illness.
This content was published on
Switzerland plans to give an additional $80 million (CHF67 million) for the 2025-2028 period to the World Health Organization (WHO), which is facing financial difficulties.
Over half a million people attended Eurovision shows or events in Basel
This content was published on
Over 500,000 people attended Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) shows or related events in Basel last week, the organisers said on Monday, celebrating its "great success".
Appenzell village is named ‘lightning capital’ of Switzerland
This content was published on
Gonten in canton Appenzell Inner Rhodes recorded the highest number of lightning strikes per square kilometre in Switzerland last year.
Swiss centre records almost 300 victims of human trafficking
This content was published on
Last year, 208 victims contacted the specialist unit FIZ Advocacy and Support for Migrant Women and Victims of Trafficking. For 59 others, an examination is still underway.
Swiss mountain village threatened by serious landslide risk
This content was published on
The situation in the mountain village of Blatten, canton Valais, remains serious due to the threat of a landslide, Swiss officials said on Sunday afternoon.
Swiss mountain municipality partly evacuated due to landslide threat
This content was published on
Part of the municipality of Blatten in canton Valais had to be evacuated on Saturday evening for safety reasons after a landslide.
This content was published on
The defective false ceiling in the Gotthard road tunnel has been dismantled. The necessary work was completed on Tuesday morning, as the Federal Roads Office (FRO) announced.
This content was published on
The Federal Roads Office expects the Gotthard Road Tunnel to be re-opened to traffic this week. Demolition work is to begin on Tuesday night.
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.