philippe::niquille | regular niche market thoughts

For once I leave the geeky side of mine - don’t worry, I won’t miss out the technical point of view.

Today I had the unique opportunity to visit one of the construction sites of the worlds longest tunnel via the Porta Alpina access.
A two-story elevator takes you down 800m at 43km/h (after driving 1.5km straight into the montain next to Sedrun, canton of Graubünden).

The train tunnel will have a total length of 57km and divides the swiss alps from north to south. The project is part of a 30 billion swiss franks transportation project and should be operational by around 2016. 66% of its drilling is said to be completed by now.
I found it extremely amusing to have cellphone coverage around 1500m beneath the surface..

You have two choices: Either get stuck between the elevator doors or experience a 800m freefall in the dark?

Ventilation is one of the biggest problems below the surface. Temperatures range from 30 - 40°C. Combine this with dust + dry air + leftovers of blastings + exhaust + need for oxygen. Fresh air gets down the main shaft and waisted air sucked up another shaft by a high-power fenting system (I say extreme, those are 1MegaWatt fans).

In case of some serious wanter issue eight pumps are ready in standby mode to move thousands of litres per second - what if power fails? Get an impression of size by comparing the size of the truck on the left hand side, the water pipe and this east tube of the tunnel system.

If the elevator one day happens to be out of order: the 800m ladder is accessible in the top right corner. Happy climbing.

One word about work shifts: About 500 specialists work at this specific construction site almost 24/7 in three 8 hours shifts. You must feel pretty wasted after working out 8 hours under these conditions..

And in case I missed it: Every single piece of rock, machinery and material needs to undertake a 800m vertical and 1.5km horizontal ride. Even mobile toilets need a lift..

Together with the Jungfraujoch (top of europe, the highest train station) the “bottom of europe train station” could be a lucrative tourist attraction!