Australian Science Illustrated – Issue 51 2017

54 | SCIENCE ILLUSTRATED

1875
Workers go on strike. Four lose
their lives in police attack.

1879

The man behind the tunnel,

Louis Favre, dies.

1880

The two tunnel

teams meet.

1881

The first work train passes

through the tunnel.

As soon as railways began to spread in

Europe, plans were made for a railway tunnel

through the Alps, and in 1869, Switzerland

held an international conference to discuss it.

Elsewhere on the continent, engineers

had built similar tunnels, but the St.

Gotthard Massif had not yet

been challenged; partly because

the tunnel would be the world’s

longest, and partly because the

railway had to climb 1,100 m into

the mountains for the tunnel to

be as short as possible. Back

then, train engines could only

manage a climb of 1 m per 40 m

of rails, so the ascent was also a

huge engineering challenge.

SIGNED UTOPIAN

CONTRACT

But the 15-km-long tunnel itself

was the most difficult and prestigious part,

everybody agreed. A limited liability

company set up for the purpose was asked

to find a contractor, who dared to take on

the job as cheaply as possible.

Two tenders were received, one from

Italian engineer Severino Grattoni, who

had previously been responsible for complex

tunnel projects, and one from Louis Favre of

Switzerland, who was an experienced

contractor, but had very limited experience

with tunnels. The longest tunnel he ever

built was 1 km long. Favre’s tender was

much cheaper than the Italian one, and the

Swiss even expected to build the tunnel in

six years – two years faster than the limited

liability company had budgeted for. If Louis

Favre built the tunnel in six years, he would

receive a major cash bonus. If not, he

would be heavily fined.

On the whole, Louis Favre’s contract

included an extreme number of terms and

conditions, but that did not scare him. Favre

had faith in technological advances such as

new, efficient drills and Alfred Nobel’s new

invention: dynamite.

Two Swiss villages were

selected to be the starting

points of the St. Gotthard tunnel:

Italian-speaking Airolo south of

the Alps and Göschenen to the

north of the mountain range. The

decision was a rude awakening

for the two small communities,

as lots of workers and equipment

were suddenly arriving.

Unemployment was high in

Italy, and reports of well-paid

tunnel worker jobs attracted

thousands of people. Of the up

to 3,400 workers, who were

working hard to build the tunnel, 94 % were

Italian, whereas only 2 % came from

relatively richer Switzerland.

Before the work could begin, engineers

had to make accurate measurements of the

impassable mountains, through which the

tunnel would pass. In only 32 days, they

Goods 1888 1900

Food 181,352 t 373,852 t

Building materials 72,409 t 205,648 t

Total quantity 660,241 t 978,016 t

TRANSPORT OF GOODS ROCKETED

The St. Gotthard railway was not only a popular short cut

for European tourists, who needed to cross the Alps.

During the years after it opened, the quantity of goods

carried through the tunnel increased considerably.

TECHNOLOGY TUNNELS