News

Work on the construction site of the Gotthard road tunnel – the 2nd tube – in Switzerland is running at full speed. In early May 2024, work in the northern fault zone was initiated by starting construction lot 241, and thus the next important construction phase.
The northern fault zone is an approx. 300 m long section, characterised by weak kakirites in the Urseren zone, at the transition from the Mesozoic to the Permo-Carboniferous. It is located about 4.5 km from the northern portal.

The northern fault zone is excavated prior to the main excavation so that the shield TBM coming from the north can be pushed through. Advance takes place using NATM with full-face excavation. The tunnel face, which has an excavation diameter of 15 m, is divided into a maximum of 8 partial areas and systematically supported by using face bolts. Due to the squeezing rock mass behaviour, yielding support is installed, allowing controlled convergence of the profile before it is fastened. The excavation works are expected to continue until the end of 2025.

The joint venture Nuovo Gottardo (ILF Consulting Engineers in Switzerland, Lombardi SA, B+S AG Bern, Emch+Berger AG Bern) being the “Tunnel project manager”, has been commissioned to carry out all works from the Göschenen portal to the Airolo portal. Within the joint venture, all JV partners are involved in the design work required to deal with the fault zones, with ILF being in charge of the northern fault zone. We wish to thank the construction consortium (lot 241) for carrying out these difficult works under complex conditions.