PROGRESS OF ALPINE TUNNELS.

Press, Volume LVII, Issue 17121, 16 April 1921, Page 11

PROGRESS OF ALPINE TUNNELS.

INTERNATIONAL COMMUNICATION IN EUROPE. (SPECIALLY WRITTEN' 10R "TUB THESS.") (Bv Mrs Julian Gkande.) GENEVA, March 3. Despite the general cry of lack of .capital far embarking on any now enterprise, engineers representing international financial companies are studythe question of pijercing yet another , great Alpine tuitnW—through the Splii- | gen, which would greatly shorten the distance between Central Europe and the Adriatic and Italy. ' Thpse inter- i ested . in the Simplon and Gotthard lines are naturally much alarmed at this new project, especially as tho second Simplon tunnel is last being completed,; and tho Gotthard -bite: already electrified a considerable strotch of its line. Through the tunnel and also from Goschenen, at the north portal, lip to Airolo electric povi'er has been I used for some' time past, and. in an- ' other year the whole fine t'roin Lucerne to Chiasso will, it is hoped, be electri-. As for the .second Simplon funnel, the masoning- over ought to be finished at the end of July next. As soon as tho second tunnel is .finished and the electric installations complete, • traffic will run through it, while tho first tunnel, the ono at present ill use,'is being repaired and renovated—a work expected to last about, six months. Consequently the two Simplon tunnels should bo available for traffic in the spring of 1922. At the end- of January 97 per cent, of the second Simplon tunnel was fully excavated. On an average 334 workers were employed in the tunnel itself, and 127 outside. Within the tunnel tho temperature reached 77F.. 'Hie Lotschberg; railway, which is an adjunct to the Simplon, connecting ft with the northern, French railways, is contemplating two new tunnels on tho south side of the Lotschberg tunuei, bc--tween Lalden and Brigue, one to be. 3000 meters long and the other 1000. The longer would pass above the Mundbach Gorge, then under the Mundbach, and 'have its outlet in a wooded locality, well sheltered from avalanches, which have caused so' much trouble on the Lotschenberg line. The 'shorter tunuei would make it possible to avoid a. place near tho Bhono bridge, which is also very badly exposed to avalanches. Experts consider both these new tunnels necessary. , Wlk'U the Gotthard line is electrified, the .second Simplon tunnel opened, and the Lotschberg improved, then, it is argued, not only will tho time of tho journey by these lines lie shortened, But. the cost of transport both for, passengers and {goods traffic will be lessened. Nothing will be gained, it is urged, by tho heavy expenditure which the piercing of a large now tunnel would entail, nor could such a tunnel in any way compete with those already existing. Tha Hauenstein Base Tunnel, vrliich was completed 'jn 1914, and built by the German firm of Julius Bergcsr, is also being reconstructed, and this tunnel and line will act as a feeder, so to speak, of the Gotthard line. Apparently no tuiinel *lias given so much trouble as this, although it was one of those 'which were constructed in the shortest time and at the cheapest rate. Perhaps, however, it is but on ■ more pcoof of the truth of tho old saw that cheap things are often the dearest; in the end. of the tunnel roof in the red mail and anhydrit ■. parts of the tunnel is going on satisfactorily, and the reconstruction 'should be completed by the end of 1921. If nothing unforeseen occurs, lied marl has evidently given a good ileal 1 ol' trouble. Xrft only has ' the tunnel roof to be replaced, but" a ho. the buttresses —those which broke or otherwise proved defective. A good deal lias had to be masoned over afresh, but the Swiss engineers have tested everything so carefully that -they hope no marc repairs will bo needed—at any rate not till after the lapse of a reasonable period. After the first expert report deductions were made for the estimates on account of unsatisfactory materials used and fault# committed by the Berlin firm of constructors. Detailed examination, however, showed that not so many repairs were, required as was at first feared. When the repairs aro complete, anyone will be able to see exactly where" they were made, for in some places the masonry has actually been broken away and replaced. At -the end of last year rather more than 400 men were being employed in the Hauenstein Bate Tunnel, but formerly far fewer wero employed, on account of the difficulty of finding men with the necessary expert knowledge. Only first-class' materials (stone) are being used, because' experience shows that in 6ome tunnels even the best concrete is not sufficiently resistant. The estimated cost of the whole work of reconstiTic.tion is about 2,000,000 francs. It is easj Jto understand why the

Swiss State railways, which aro mainly interested in international traffic, should not be at all inclined to favour any proposed new main tunnel. Already international traffic has been tending to go round, and not through i Switzerland, one cause of which is nndoubtodlv. tho continued bicli value ol the Swiss franc. Thus Italy, whose lira is worthionly about 22 centimes in Switzerland, instead of 100, has found it cheaper to carry her goods from Germany via tho Brenner and Austria, although this route is longer than that via Switzerland; but. as tho value .of tluv German mark is anly about 9-10 centimes (instead of 1.20 francs), and that of the Austrian krone only 1-4 centimes, instead of 103, it is to the interests of theso countries to divert traffic from Switzerland. To show how much' goods traffic in Switzerland has been affected largely by goods in transit evading the country, ,1 may point out that last January, the goodsl traffic of the Federal lines was, only 1,024,000 .tons, as compared with .1,166,863 in January, 19210. . . / All this traffic, however, is not. international goods traffic, which nlofte fc.l off from 1,420,991 tons in 1913, to only 37,527 tons in 1919., Similarly as rel gnrds- international - passenger ■ traffic. The Orient Express avoids Switzerland now altogether ,aiid £oes vift Brussels) Cologne, and VionnA, and thence i-o Budapest and Belgrade connecting in Belgrade with the Simplon express for Athens, Constantinople, and Buearest. This, of course, -very seriously affects the Gotthard line. Moreover, although the Simplon expross from Pans via VaUorbc-Lausnnne and Domodttssola is running, hero again, owing to tho high value of, the Swiss franc the Frcncn find'it cheaper to use Mont Cenis route both for passenger and goods traffic. Possibly when the exchange lias become once more normal, and international transport better regulated; a difference of .10 or 20 kilometres in tho length of' a journey might he quito negligable. and the capital involved in a new Alpine, tunnel as matters are at present, would never pay any interest: The only argumont in favour of a new Splugen tunliel is it would give employment at a time wheil this is acutely needed. That, however, would not appeal to capitalists seeking a good investment fdr their money. _. , ~lt 'is interesting to 'recall the principal tunnels through the Alps,, together with tho time taken to eonstmct them, and their lengths. Taking them in order of construction, we find that the Mont Cenis tunnel, which is 7i miles long, took 13 years and one month to build; the St. Gotthard trmnel, 9J miles long, took '7 years and 4 months; tho Arlberg tunnel, 6i miles long, took 3 yeajs; the Simplon tunnel. 121 miles long, took 6 years aiidtt months: the Lotschberg tunnel, which is 9. miles long, took 4 years: the Hauenstein (base tunnel), o miles 94 yards long, took 2 years and 6 months; and the Mont d'Or tunnel. 3J miles long, took -3 year,? to build.