THE ST GOTHARD RAILWAY TUNNEL.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LVI, Issue 6502, 29 December 1881, Page 5

THE ST GOTHARD RAILWAY TUNNEL.

A correspondent of the Timet , who bos made a personal inspection of this great work, sends the folio a log account of his visit to that journal-.

" Six hours in the bowel# of the earth, attended with a# severe physical exertion a* I ever went through in the same space of time; six hour# in an atmosphere rapidly alternating between the heat of an oven and the clammy chill of a wet morning in late October, beside# being thickly impregnated with the smell of exploded dynamite, and the greasy, sickening smoke from innumerable oil lamps of the most primitive construction; in addition, no slight percentage of danger from being crushed by passing trains or single tracks loaded with building material or dibris, knocked on tbe head by the pick of some vigouroos workman, unseen and unseeing, in tbe gloom, or brained by a stone from tbe arched roof, loosened by an explosion of dynamite in the floor below—such are the necessary experiences to be gone through by any individual desirous of obtaining a thorough knowledge of the present condition of this moot gigantic enterprise. “On issuing out of the engineer’s office I found Monsieur Zollinger (in charge of this portion of the line), who not only readily acceded to my request to visit the tunnel, but volunteered to take me with him on his tour of inspection, which be repeals four times per week. At 2 p.m. I was shown into a grimy room containing a bench, rough waahitand, and a grating, behind which a stock of dingy clothing was hanging. This was tbe ‘dressing room,* where necessary preparations are made before entering tbe yawning mouth of tbe tunnel. I had put on my long war boots, and, with a waterproof coat, considered myself capitally equipped for any subterranean exploration. To my surprise, M. Zollinger directed me to doff my waterproof as well as my coat, felt hat, and tie. M. Zollinger himself donned a rough garb, and then only needed bis spectacles to distinguish him from any ordinary 'navvy.* With a greasy cap and well-oiled and tarred bine linen blouse, I mounted tbe little locomotive which was to transport oar train to the point where the compressed-air locomotive would relieve it. Upon entering the tunnel, 1 saw that a narrow gauge temporary track was laid on the floor of the passage, and that even at the entrance the surface was not yet cleared and ballasted. Our train of side-dumping fourwheel tracks, was loaded with cut-stone for the vaulted roof, and with workmen going in to begin their tom of labour. The men are all Italians, and I was informed that Frenchmen and Germans had been found unfit for that peculiar work. There are six changes of men during the 24 home, but only half of a shift is relieved at a time, the men remaining on doty eight hoars at a stretch. Every man carried a rough oil lamp, the general shape being that of a stirrup iron ; on the bottom is a flat reservoir for oil, the wick is in the centre, and a small iron rod 2ft long is fastened in the top of the stirrup, with a ring at the upper end, by which it is carried, or hung on a nail when not in the hand. This lamp gives a flaring light, but the consumption of oil is very great, and the consequent amount of greasy smoke given off is proportionately large. “TheSt Qothard Tunnel, when finished, will measure eight metres (26ift) in width, and six metres (19ft 1C in) from the floor to the crown of the arched roof. It is, therefore, wide enough for a double line of rails, although l the railway is being constructed elsewhere as a‘single’ line. The side walls are laid in i noelh* (ashlar), while the roof, which is a semicircle in cross section, is made of * cut * stone. At intervals of 100 metres (330 ft) there are small square openings in the aide walls about a yard and a-hall in depth, where tools may be left, while at every kilometre there are spaces in the side walls large enough to permit a dozen men to stand with their implements to avoid pasting trains. A short distance from the entrance we came to the' Bad Place,’ as it has bean christened, where millions of francs have been sunk in a apace of seventy metres in length; three Jean have passed in a continual struggle etween an ill-natured freak of Mother Earth, in (ho shape of a stratum of soft, plastic material, and the capital and skill of the contractor, M. Favre, who, near this very spot, fell dead from a coup de tang, the result, no doubt, of his azuuety over the (Malta of this struggle. Many and costly were the expedients tried, but one after another succumbed to the offended genie of St Qothard, whose internal economy bad been so rudely Invaded by these presumptuous pons of Adam. The walla of stone were bulged in like paper, and a second lining of strong masonry was built, but only to share the rate of the predecessor. A short time since, a third wall was begun, and it was so constructed as to form an elliptical cylinder, upon which the pressure, from whatever direction it came, or upon whatever point (on the exterior surface) it was exerted, served only to compress more firmly together the stopea forming the cylinder (which, of course, is tbe tunnel itself at this place). Up to the present time this third lining has withstood the utmost efforts of the evidently infuriated genie, and the engineers are confident that the unruly mountain demon has been,effectually exorcised. Two mile* from the entrance we stopped to exchange our ■team power for that of compressed air. These air locomotives make the same noisea as the ordinary railway engines when working j they are fitted with whittles, and 1 was oontinally shifting about when standing on- 'them, tb. keep-, Troth touching what I obntd not beipthiaking-hero* the hot' surfaces- of-an. ordinaryStsam iobo* iMttivf-! Wo moved off at a rapid rate', pernio*'WL«tds°f mem these along the Ik#, who -w«4j*fi«ribg'iaw*ys the rubbishfrom .the floor; to Having:-the-traok.ojr flashing up iheQast t«wh«Jiupda fcb*. 'tiho latter case the acuffoldjog *.w*s stkadingl with *■ passes fdrtreble tp go ihrohgh. j we reached ' thst-tenniaeil oTihe locomotive track, and "my tribulation* began in earaesto Horse# aro iososa from tMP.part.ottho.wOrk inward' to hadl the; feuoks'i' they •were pdwarfiji animals sad) an good-condition, in' spite of their subterranean employment. They work, eight' haunt'- '-sad < it -requires three hours to enter-dad leavr the'tunnel wherethey, are at workhence,- they * have ■ eleven hours .out ofl.tw&ty-fourondwMroupd; •-Ouk .progress (w*« iimirJ txMsdingly psihhd »;thogtMtorjMttt ol the .pathway was several inches, deep., in' water; we btai to‘-ci»aiber over numwfou* pUesof stra»s,dsdge wpidly-moytog ’ trunks. kna stilHmoro dangerous -pits, besides, ihovelftls oLvatony''fragments -or- ■ n whole wrgMCnpoadha of. \ building-atono- suddenly khunpeq Ibyi tbe slde-of the track. Being idmeifed j Hke each -nwnhe gloomy light—if 1 .n»yW the expression-end were supposed Ad bo: iufaii -|o whet- war-going o% nnd therefore able to look out for ourselves. My

lamp got lost in one of my numerous tumbles and I was then forced to Baehi-Bszoak around for a little light wherever the prospect appeared the most promising. The heat became most oppressive, and I was thankful 1 hod left my coat and waterproof behind: in fact, by the time we had reached the livemile post I wished that I was naked to the waist, like all the men around me. The air was full of lamp-smoko, which clogged the nostnls, and breathing became a nuisance to a novice in tunnel life. Aa wo approached the dividing line between the Swiss and Italian sides a breeze came through the tunnel which checked my half-formed resolution to ‘ give in'to the terribly hot, stifling atmosphere and make the best of my stumbling wav back to Ghicbenen,

“Near the centra of the tunnel ia the aecond mauvait tndroit, whkh baa earned much trouble, although not bine like that resulting from the malevolent effort* of the 8t Qothard genie to oloee up the hole made by intrusive men. In*lead of the plaetic etratmn need by the genie, we hare here a singular species of dry rotten stone contain' im a very large proportion of mica. Alter a ehort eijKwuro to the air, this rotten stratum crumble* to powder. I had here an opporlunity of witnessing the practical operation# of (1) enlarging the bole made by the boring machine, (2; putting in the vaulted roof, (3) building the side walls. The boring machine bad finished its work and been removed to Gtscheoen; It made a hole (by drilling and blasting) about 2 metres (Gift) in height, and from 1 to I J metres (3ft to 4J ft) in width, this was in the roof and on the centre line of the tunnel. Afterwards the men worked tideways and downwards until the dimensions were those of the tunnel, plus the thickness of the lining of masonry. A curious ff store of the construction of the latter was that of building the roof first and then completing the side walls which are to support it The 'centring' is composed of wrougbt-iroa Tbeams, curved to the required radius supporting the heavy planking upon which the semi-circular roof is laid in cement. This • centring ' and it* . load of masonry are held up bv a row of round post* of wood on each tide of the tunnel, which stand inside the ride wall*. The latter are th?n laid in cement outeide the ! ports, the etone being rough ashlar, taken, ( as far as posrible, from the debrit of the blasting ; whrn this material is not suitable, granite is brought from outside the tunnel. The vaulting of the roof is alt of cut granite blocks of uniform size. A small hand windlass serves to hoist all the stones, which are too heavy to be placed in position by hand. The blasting in the tunnel has all been done by dynamite; until recently this explosive material contained 75 per cent of nitroglycerine, but they have lately empioved as high as 95 per cent of nitre-glycerine in blasting out some of the hardest porticos of the floor. So violent have been the explosion* that I saw score* of bole# in the roof from which the arch stones had been shaken, and the suggestion that more of these loosened masses of granite might fall at any moment was most uncomfortable to a who had only a greasy silk cap on his head. My happiness was not increased while in the gigantic hole by the official statement that over 200 men bid been killed and innumerable others wounded, chiefly by explosions and being crushed by passing railway trucks during the progress of the work. “ The scene at this maurai’r tndroit Ho. 2 was intensely interesting—the flitting figures of numerous workmen stripped to the waist, with perspiration streaming doers their brawny figures, myriads of lamps swinging in the hands of moving men or banging by nails driven into the tree trunk* supporting the vaulting, trucks loaded with stone pushed rapidly along by stalwart gnome-looking beings yelling ‘‘gratia? at every step to warn others of the crushing vehicles’ approach; the crashing of masses of granite dumped from the trucks upon the roadside,- explosions of dynamite roaring through the subterranean depths and filling the air with the odours ol the gases set free, shrill shriek# of the com-pressed-air locomotives from Ike unseen distance, creaking windlasses, and the cries of men giving directions, all combined with the stifling heat and' smoke-laden atmosphere, to almost induce the visitor from the outer world to believe that he had fallen into the hands of tome modem Virgil, and was being conducted through the realms of grim old Pluto. A short distance beyond the Bad Place Ho. 2 wo came to the Italian division of the tunnel, and here the air was cool and refreshing compared with that I had been sweltering in, seated on a rock fragment, I awaited with considerable longing the signal from M. Zollinger for our return to daylight. After three-quarters of an hour spent there, a faint whistle told us that it was time to start for the end of the locomotive route. I was now much fatigued, and as we splashed along in the water, climbing or stumbling over rules of dibris every few yards, drenched in perspiration, and with lungs full of greasy vapour, I fervently resolved that it would be a long time before 1 ventured into another tunnel, except when carried there in a comfortable railway carriage. I climbed a slippery ladder leading to the movable platform, where the finishing touches were being dene to the masonry. "The tunnel is perfectly straight from end to end, and the engines s met each other so accurately that their centre lines were within a hand’s breadth of an exact coincidence. As the headings approached each other the explosions of dynamite were distinctly audible through nearly 400 metres (1325 ft) of intervening rock. The total length is 15 kilometres (9i miles). The grade ascends uniformly from QSsohenea to the summit of the tunnel, which is 1154 metres above the sea level, and 45 metres (liSift) above Q&sohenen; while it is only 9 metre# above the mouth at Airolo. The ascent from Qoichenen to the summit is 553 per cent; while the descent to Airolo is T 25 per cent. The summit of the tunnel is 300 metres (95Cfl) below tie surface at Andennatt, and 2000 metres (0600 ft) beneath the peak at Kastelhoru of the St Gothard group. This tunnel summit is 1134 metres, the Mont Cenis Tunnel summit is 1339 metres, and tie Pacific Railway summit is 2513 metres above the sea level. Thera are no air-shafts in the St Gothard Tunnel, the ; two entrances being the only openings. When | the mechanical operations cease inside, and ! the many existing obstructions to a free I passage of air, such as scaffoldings, heaps of dibris, and unfinished parts near the centre, are done away with, time will be nothing unpleasant in the passage through this tremendous tunnel, which is 2700 metres (Is miles) longer than that through Mont Cenis. During the regular progress of the work there were 1000 men employed on the Italian side, and 1400 on the Swiss; at present,.*# th* former is very nearly completed, thtb.&Vmbfr is less on it .has bchn.in-i ewased j tp gnd. rogulirl tmnsutqptioD ofoU.per - day ) jn the woekmqpVlampf w 90i gallon »)ba the Swiss division aiose, \Vtth a daily ronidniption of nearly six bwwls of Utnp-eil Jn, f tupnej. . not ,j go. be ‘*AUhqughlleioßna%thsiixiicrior or more* cVntnil portion of i fho tunnel very hpjpmiVo, thntWoi^mdaappemed.perfectly ah; ease, uud Tharo to* doubt, but what,-with a little more gradual . penetration To, the i more distapb 'regions and,..a (aw days* seasoning! 1 should ,hkvb Jikd no difficulty with the atmosphere,! Tate, iWoughly .convinced that people past-' ipg through’) iu railway-carriages • ■will > experience no unpleasant sensations whatever ; ’m fact,* ;it was the constant exertion that l npet*)ao {quite as nmch as;.tho.atmospheric, difficulties*,.! wkOeAlrfd thatthe maximum temperature did ndt..ezcieed, (06.Fahrenheit* Tlm’ Poatractors.-Stato that they will lore, heavily* in 'ConStuctisg this tunnel,, r and although, u aa .h class, they, arc -'rather given'to mCuraftfl .assertions mAodtoSH, th«r4 is! no. dqubfJtho, fit Gothard genic swab lowed tip an immense amount o£ money atvuntrbif sadroif No. I.’’