THE SIMPLON TUNNEL.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIV, Issue 5835, 11 December 1879, Page 3

THE SIMPLON TUNNEL.

The engineering enterprise of the present age, is so great that there is nothing extraordinary in the fact that even before the St. Gothard Tunnel ia completed it is contemplated commencing a third gigantic tunnel through the Simplon. A company for the construction of this tunnel and the railways in connection with it was formed in 1874, and it has already laid down the line from Lausanne through the valley of the Rhone to Brieg, at the foot of the Simplon. The present Ministers, together with M. Gambetta and also President Grevy, are very anxious that this colossal undertaking should be proceeded with without delay, and it is affirmed that the French Government intend to apply to the Chambers for a grant of forty-eight millions of franca for this purpose. It is also asserted that the Italian Government is disposed to undertake the construction of a line from Isili, at the foot ot the Simplon, which will bring the tunnel into connection with the Italian railway. This line, it is estimated, will cost some twentyeight millions of francs. Concerning the tunnel itself the following details are taken from the “Records of the Post and Telegraphs.” Though the Simplon tunnel will be longer than either the Mount Oenis or the St. Gothard tunnel, it ia thought that its construction will not be more difficult. The entrance to the St. Gothard tunnel is situated at an altitude of eleven hundred and fifty-two metres above the level of the sea, and the Mount Cenis tunnel at fifteen hundred and sixty metres. The entrance to the Simplon tunnel will he situated comparatively low, and the railway leading to it from Lausanne is quite straight, with an incline in no case greater than one in one hundred. On the southern slope, however, the incline will be greater—thirteen ia one hundred. In consequence of the low position of the tunnel, the work will not be subject to such constant interruption by the snow as has been the case with the Mont Cenis and St. Gothard tunnels. The Rhone, on the Swiss, and the Riviera, on the Italian side, will furnish the necessary power for the boring, and thanks to the warmth of the climate of the Canton of Wallis, it will not be necessary to suspend operations, even in the most rigorous season. The tunnel will be even longer than the St. Gothard, as this latter is but fifteen kilometres in length, whereas the Simplon will be eighteen and a half kilometres long. Geologists are of opinion that the stone of the Simplon ia less hard than that of either Mont Cenis or St. Gothard, and it is calculated that the boring can be proceeded with at the rate of from nine to ten metres a day, so that the tunnel will probably be completed in six, or at most seven, years from the date of its commencement. The estimated cost of the enterprise is eighty millions of francs—seventy-four millions of francs for the tunnel itself, making four millions of francs per kilometre. This estimate may be considered a little high in comparison with the St. Gothard tunnel, which ia being constructed for two and a half millions of franca per kilometre, but one million francs will be expended on the completion of the road to the month of the tunnel, and five millions of francs on the building of a large international station at Brieg. Only a small portion of the eighty millions of francs which will be necessary for the carrying out of this enterprise will be raised by public subscription—that is to say, only thirteen and a half millions of francs. The remaining sixty-six and a half millions of francs will be granted to the company as follows ;—The Swiss Government will subscribe four aud a half millions of francs; the canton of Waadt, five millions of francs ; the canton of Wallis, one million of francs ; the cantons of Berne, Freiburg, and Geneva, three millions of francs ; the Swiss Western railway company, five millions of francs ; and France, forty-eight millions of francs.