Gotthard Base Tunnel: The World's Longest Railway Tunnel

[@stefanschneider3681]

Being Swiss at my fifties this tunnel has been part of my life ever since! Following the discussions in the parliament, voting on it personally, watching its completion and sharing an apartment with one of the geologist responsible for it. And I think this sentence „being finished on time and more or less on budget“ should be appreciated by the swiss population a million times higher!! Any project this size ever that was finished more or less on budget?! I think this is really something we can be proud of!!! A similar project l I’d like to mention: the railway-tunnel built directly underneath our largest city of zurich, finished a few years ago, also a marvel of engineering, on time, on budget - and almost nobody took notice of it, eben in Switzerland! But that‘s probably how we swiss are, deliver, smile for a minute and then go on with our daily business ... Thanks for another wonderfully researched, edited and commentet video (and sorry for the english ...). Sincerely, Stefan, now living near lake constance

[@kernelpanic2887]

Mit 125km/h durch Zürich aus Vernunft!

[@MSportsEngineering]

Great story

[@stefanschneider3681]

MSportsEngineering If anyone is interested: It‘s called „Durchmesser-Linie“ and there are some stories about it in the net.

[@MatthiasYReich]

Filmemacher - 125km/h *innerorts* aus Vernunft

[@stefanschneider3681]

Matthias Y. Reich sorry, I still don‘t get the point ... may it‘s my fault ...

[@sterfry8502]

When you said “on budget “ my jaw literally dropped. First mega project not to go over budget is a amazing feet alone.

[@cadonau]

Unfortunately, it’s not true: www.swissinfo.ch/eng/directdemocracy/gotthard-_democracy-made-world-s-longest-tunnel-possible/42731998

[@benedictdesilva6677]

All mega projects in Switzerland are usually never over budget. Such accomplishments are not attributable to any inherent superiority, but entirely due to radical direct democracy, where the government only enacts decisions made by the people.

[@borismuller86]

@@benedictdesilva6677that’s also why Zürich still hasn’t built that football stadium which was due in 2008…

[@nanashipersonne4151]

*feat, I believe.

[@SELoggOff]

Least common thing Simon says on Megaprojects: "It came in on budget and on time!" 1:25

[@jameslyddall]

Hs2 project hold my beer

[@aled721]

@@jameslyddall is for the most over budget? HS2 is a monster.

[@Philippadrinkstea]

Legit had to check I was watching the right channel

[@DedMan516]

The Swiss just keep showing the rest of the world how its done

[@fiilix99]

well it was not so much on budget. In the referendum there was a cost estimation of around 8 billion swiss francs (about 8 billion dollar these days) and when after it was finished: total cost where about 22.6 billions.. so slightly 300% over budget. but we got a pretty cool tunnel! cool t-shirt btw.

[@im.empimp]

*On time, on budget, and only **_5mm_** off of the estimated length!* Simply astonishing!

[@borismuller86]

You just know someone involved was kicking themselves about those 5mm…

[@BigLebowski2000]

and the first accident.

[@Waidmann77]

It wasn't only buildt on budget and on time, the opening actually happened one year ahead of schedule. But there is also one problem: In Germany and Italy, the workings on the connections to the NEAT project haven't even begun yet.

[@idkimlikereallybored9533]

if the federal council had a spine it would put sanctions in the form of a 300% increas on road freight tax until the connections are finished...

[@MrChillerNo1]

As a Swiss I approve this project. Best engineering advertisment for Switzerland in decades to come. Two decades, well analysed, on budget, on time (actually even a bit early as planed twenty years before). The one thing now limiting Swiss transport logistic, is Germany's infrastructure failures at the border.

[@nospam4488]

And Italy in the south. The 4m-corridor isn't finished yet, although the Swiss gave Italy several million Euros to do their part. The costs were estimated with 8 billions but were over 22 billions in the end. So nowhere near on budget

[@RhenusFilms]

As a German I am deeply ashamed of that...especially since it's only the electrification (!!!!!) of some lines that's limiting it so much.

[@huhu6648]

Because we puff the money for train infrasturcture, with the idea to take a fully functional train station and the rotate the train tracks by 90 degrees. And because Stuttgart is in a valley, we now have to dig long tunnels. And we blew the budget by 100%. So you see there is no money left, for connecting this cross europe infrastructure project, sorry...

[@felixlohrer9600]

@@RhenusFilms That's not right - missing is not more and not less 2 addl. tracks from Basel northbound. Germany signed a treaty to build 2 addl Tracks (mainly for freight) from Basel northbound. And while Switzerland begun the NEAT Projects, German Railway fell into a big sleep. And as they begun planning, locals form in protests as they do not want the addl. tracks. They want to improve railway, but not right in front of their doors. But we see similar things all around Germany. Everybody is complaining about the bad tracks, slow connections, too small capacity - but as soon there is discussion about new tracks, nobody will accept the works...

[@noeggi]

Germany is supposed to be ready in 2035, if on time ... they wanted to build lots of it from Karlsruhe to Basel underground till they noticed they cant keep the budget plans for that project. So they started to move most to the surface again and now they faced tousands of objections. Since i am aware of Germanys complicated bureaucracy, 2035 seems not feasible to me 🤔

[@ChadWilson]

Megaproject Suggestion: GPS Satellite Network. So many of us would be lost without it!

[@BoserPSN]

Quite literally

[@tarn1135]

Or we would actually still be able to read a map.

[@caleliebig1356]

nice

[@888johnmac]

ba-dum-chaa .. are you here all week ??

[@bainsworth8853]

so many of us are lost with it

[@james8449100]

There is plenty of flat land it Switzerland 🇨🇭 it's just at an angle

[@fredrik1559]

Don't forget about the plateau 😂

[@killernat1234]

Your not wrong

[@NX-gw7wg]

🤣😂🤣😂

[@1990drewman]

Flat relative to everything else

[@TyChee]

😂😂

[@frankpinmtl]

Perhaps Germany should have hired the Swiss to build that airport...

[@bachmannmanuel1562]

😆😆😆😆 True, would be on time and in the budget

[@johnuferbach9166]

Funny thing is... frankfurt airport built a new (i think third) terminal with higher capacity than the entire ber airport in a lot less time xD I think the main issue was politicians trying to manage the thing themselves rather than having companies do it

[@ericwright77]

NO S*#T!!!!!

[@gonun69]

That's not a guarantee for success. The Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg wasn't exactly on time or budget despite beeing designed by the renowned Swiss architecture bureau Herzog & de Meuron.

[@MrN0nex]

thing is the swiss kinda hired the germans to build this tunnel :D

[@ducewags]

Here is a fun fact about Switzerland. Back in the early days of electricity the US sent a sample of the thinist wire made at that time. Switzerland sent it back with a hole drilled down the center. Now that my friends, makes this American smile. Thanks for the show, it's well put together.

[@MsSHORTESTstraw]

I've never heard that before, I've heard that US bragged on the smallest drill bit and China sent it back with one drilled Down the center. ?? Interesting.

[@jamesdunn3864]

"thinnest", not "thinist"

[@ducewags]

@@jamesdunn3864 Wow thanks, I can sleep better now.

[@moover123]

sauce?

[@ducewags]

@@moover123 Noodle?

[@sth.777]

Besides the fact that it is an engineering masterpiece - not just the tunnel, but the machines that each were larger than some towns - I like the tunnel in that it takes traffic AWAY from the beauty of the Alps; now we can go over the Gotthard Pass without being encumbered by tons of trucks, and enjoy nature along the way. Now people have three choices to travel north-south in the summer - the pass, the traffic tunnel, or the GBT.

[@ltdada74]

The fact that it finished on schedule and within budget is the true astonishing fact about this tunnel

[@37wilde]

It was not on Budget though (12.3 instead of 7.7 billion). But they completed it almost a year early.

[@tigersharkzh]

I live between Zurich and the northern portal of the GBT so the train I take to get home from Zurich is often the one that goes through to Lugano. Once I took this 9am train home after a night af partying in Zurich, I was far from sober and real tired. Just after leaving Zurich the conductor came by and checked my ticket, it's an anual pass for the whole country. Shortly after he went I fell asleep and woke what I thought was minutes later and we were in a tunnel, I thought it was the tunnel just after Zurich so I stood up and waited by the door so I wouldn't miss my station that'sw just after this tunnel but the tunnel just wasn't ending and after 10 minutes I realised that I had slept through my station and was now under the Alps in the GBT. At first I swore but then we exited the tunnel and wham, blue sky and sunshine. It was late in winter and there had been a lot of high fog cover for months and I had rarely seen the sun since xmas. I got off the train in Belinzona and took a comuter train to Locarno and sat on the shores of Lago Maggiore in beautiful warm early spring weather. I didn't head back home until the sun was setting and when we got back through to the northern side it was back to freezing cold and damp weather. The change in climate through this tunnel can be crazy and I now use it on weekends where the weather is bad here but great down in the south.

[@economicsinaction]

Chinese engineers in the 21st century building infrastructure left and right Swiss engineers: *"Hold my beer"*

[@Adiscretefirm]

Let's see who's last longer...

[@Aristocles22]

The Chinese stuff is rotting already. The US needs to build more infrastructure, but what we do get built is much, much better than anything China has.

[@coweatsman]

There is the proposal to build under the Himalayas but that may be decades away.

[@Adiscretefirm]

@@Aristocles22 and that Swiss tunnel will be just fine 50 years after half the Belt and Road things have been replaced.

[@Aristocles22]

@@Adiscretefirm The "Belt and Road" things are just a way for China to steal resources from even poorer countries. To be fair, they only have to last as long until resources they are connected to are depleted.

[@1950dcs]

A slip of the tongue: the tunnel referendum was in 1992, not 1922. I know Switzerland doesn’t exactly move at the speed of light, but... As for delivery within budget, I seem to recall reading that they had to stop work on the second bore of the Lötschberg base tunnel to shift funds to the Gotthard because of spiralling costs. So only three quarters of the project has actually been delivered. Another detail you might like is that the warm water that drains from the Lötschberg base tunnel aliments a nursery for exotic fruit and veg!

[@stefanschneider3681]

And a huge salmon-farm ...

[@kasaru2911]

Whoo thanks for covering this!! So happy my suggestion got through. I love talking to people about this megaproject. thou i gotta add "President of the Confederation" is a bit an inaccurate title for Mr. Schneider-Amman, he's one of 7 heads of state! We don't have one president, we have 7 x'D

[@fedesartorio]

Love this tunnel! I took it shortly after it opened and got a weird announcement in the train: “Due to technical difficulties, we’ll be arriving in Bellinzona about 30 min early”. Guess they were still tuning the speed of the trains.

[@alancugler2003]

I want everyone to note this is one of the few mega project videos about infrastructure that WASNT full of scandals.... so very Swiss.

[@donrobbo837]

What's your take on the opening ceremony?

[@7856841]

@@donrobbo837 I’m begging someone to answer this

[@gonun69]

You forgot to mention the most impressive thing about this Tunnel: They actually found enough rock between all the tunnels, fortresses, and bunkers that already exist in the Gotthard mountain to dig a new tunnel through! Seriously, that mountain probably is one of the most "perforated" mountains ever.

[@thulyblu5486]

Found enough rock to dig a new tunnel? I have no clue what that means.

[@farajaraf]

Huh?

[@leonpaelinck]

Found rock? Isn't the point to remove rock?

[@xxx_phantom_xxxw_t_a9479]

🤣 A funny point of view. Yes, for those who don't know Switzerland very well, we are known to have a lot of mountains and, so to speak, so many tunnels, bunkers and military fortifications that it can actually be a challenge (in a sense) to build a tunnel in such a way that you don't have to come across one the other systems.

[@victorivanov7013]

Literally watching this while on the train passing through that tunnel

[@Terri_MacKay]

Simon: "I'll post the link to that video below." Everyone: "I bet you won't." 😂😂

[@brainblaze6526]

Sounds familiar.

[@adambuss654]

@@brainblaze6526 what is the link tho?? I'm sure my dad would love a new T

[@criggie]

@@brainblaze6526 replying to @megaprojects ?

[@rogink]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/rJjUaX6EoZWgnNU

[@nickelpence]

Another interesting project, tough not on that scale, is the "Ceneri" tunnel (literally "Ashes"), which due to the particular rock under there, had to be digged using explosive, instead of the usual heavy machinery; Another part was the storing of the waste material, part of which is near the entrance of the middle excavation start point: a literal mountain of rocks and stuff, which required a bit of work to blend it in with the environment around the area.

[@idkimlikereallybored9533]

didnt like the explosions, and the dust neither

[@monkieie]

Nicola I agree. Another big project from the SBB: the CBT 😎

[@idkimlikereallybored9533]

@@monkieie as i answered in another comment, big project, but useless, now even if italy does its work on the milano-como, between chiasso and lugano theres the bottleneck of the old line lol

[@scotty1928]

Kit Uchiha it does improve the line and, with time, will unfold it's intended purpose. I mean we're paying for railways in italy just to do that :D

[@idkimlikereallybored9533]

@@scotty1928 yeah, on the luino-gallarate, thats has nothing to do with ceneri, only gottardo... so ceneri is useless

[@benistingray6097]

Greetings from switzerland and thanks for the video ;)

[@anthonybanchero3072]

Shame that the opening ceremony videos have been ruined by KZbin trolls. Can’t incorporate a local legend into the opening ceremony without it being smeared.

[@wildcraftone]

I've been through this tunnel! I wasn't expecting to go through it and was thinking "this is a really long tunnel!" And then was wondering what the longest tunnel was in the world and saw my route was going through it haha. Such a great modern marvel.

[@bobbywalsh648]

We need to talk about that opening ceremony...

[@barbararuthschatzmann8078]

About a month before it opened I had the incredible chance to go and see the Basis Tunnel. Later I drove through it on a business trip (the tunnel shortened that trip from 3.5 to 2.5 hours, which is awesome. It is interesting how this tunnel has already become part of our daily lives and we don't think a lot about it anymore, just drive through. Rather sad, though.

[@bmp72]

I also went through it, just a daytrip from Zurich to the Milan motorcycle show. Indeed, amazing how fast this engineering feat has become a part of normal life.

[@stgirat]

I'm blessed and very proud to have surveyed this tunnel for over 5 years.

[@paddor]

The new Ceneri Base Tunnel (CBT) next to GBT is being finalized as we speak and is going into public service in December 2020, completing the NEAT project.

[@idkimlikereallybored9533]

only useful to get from lugano to bellinzona-locarno quicker, after lugano its still shitty windy railtracks going through villages, and the lugano-chiasso isnt even on railroad 2035 plans, pure bern style.

[@theuncalledfor]

But I thought CBT meant... uuhhh... something else.

[@tuwheebrown]

@@theuncalledfor ??? Coke,Blunts & Tequila‼️😉🤷🏾‍♂️

[@gianurwiler5098]

@@tuwheebrown Im agree 420

[@ryanroberts1104]

I'm starting to get the idea Simon didn't get the train set he wanted when he was a kid. Every other video here is about trains....

[@booketoiles1600]

because train infrastructure is nothing but megaprojects upon megaproject

[@Rob2]

@Untergrundmaschine But they usually go from not where you are to where you don't want to be...

[@cheaterman49]

It's a bit like how we'd get half of the videos talking about elevator design on Business Blaze if Simon didn't threaten Danny with starvation. :-)

[@Ynhockey]

IMO there aren't enough videos about trains here. Not because trains are so amazing (but they kind of are), but because railway megaprojects are consistently among the most expensive and time-consuming of all infrastructure projects, and engineering projects in general. I'm surprised there has not been a video about a subway system (there was about Crossrail but that's just one spoke in a larger system). The NYC subway would be an especially appropriate one, for example.

[@ryanroberts1104]

@PotatoPlayer Made in China. You should stop talking. You sound like an idiot. Everybody else taking this comment seriously: Please go take a nap in your garage with the car running and the doors shut.

[@nevadahamaker7149]

I've brought this up before but, on the topic of tunnels, I think a good topic would be the replacement of the Alaskan Way Viaduct in Seattle. The tunnel that replaced it was bored by the largest tunnel boring machine of its type. But it's not just the tunnel, the whole project involved a lot more than that, such as rebuilding the seawall along the waterfront, and demolishing the viaduct once the tunnel was complete. That last one was a considerable and highly technical undertaking, because the viaduct in some places was only feet away from adjacent buildings. The whole thing is also a classic example of the "The Seattle Method" of planning and executing large public-works projects.

[@Phaios95]

I have traveled through that tunnel last September and it was an amazing feeling. And the funny thing is: I had full 4G connection during the whole trip and watched KZbin videos.

[@Happymali10]

One bit you missed is that they actually started building Porta Alpina, an underground train station meant for regular scheduled use. However, that was abandoned partway through construction, leaving a massive hall and plattforms. Also, because it was abandoned so late, the "Miniatur Wunderland", an H0-scale railway in Germany, actually included it in their model of the tunnel.

[@pronto185]

as someone who prefers miles, i appreciate to the switch to just saying one unit, while having converted unit shown on screen. saying the distance in two formats was a bit much

[@panzerfan]

How do you cope with unit conversion when you're in metric countries? Do you mentally come to a rough equivalence when you're not in USA? Curious as I think in metric.

[@BlueSparrow13]

@@panzerfan yes yes we do, Since meters and yards are similar already, depending on the relitve distance (inch, ft, yard, mile ect.) We either esitmate using by 2.5 or estimating using the yard/meter rule. Again depending on distance it usually gets within a few percent in a conversation. I will follow up by saying that if you need more precision just pull out google converter aint to hard :)

[@shogun2215]

Imagine if England or America tried building something like this. It would be massively overbudget, would fall apart within a few years, and you can be sure there would be no ceremony for the dead. Switzerland is just on another level.

[@SD-tj5dh]

I often think as a brit we should just hire the Swiss to do most of our projects. It goes to show just how bent and corrupt the building companies are.

[@mattevans4377]

If you want an example of British inefficiency, just look up HS2. It doesn't even have a higher top speed (still likely stuck at 125mph), presumably because it STILL doesn't have in-cab signalling, even though every other major country does at this point....

[@crispoman]

@@mattevans4377 "If you want an example of British inefficiency, just look up HS2." Pretty sure it doesn't matter what kind of signalling HS2 has right now. When they have some tracks to put some trains on that will most likely change.

[@thomaspriewasser6660]

I'm looking forward to the BBT and SBT. Go Austria.

[@mattevans4377]

@@crispoman The projected speed is 125mph. The reason our trains are limited to that in general, is because of no in-cab signalling. That is because you can only see line signals up to a certain speed (125mph).

[@MarshFlyFightWin]

Do you think you could do a video on the Nevada-Class Battleships as both ships had interesting careers. One of which USS Nevada tried to escape Pearl Harbor, fought at D-Day , Iwo Jima, and Okinawa, and survived 2 atomic bombs. I would say that's a mega ship. Awesome video.

[@dariocavegn4052]

The project did *not* come in on budget. It cost about 12 billion francs to build, while 8 billion were originally budgeted. The really interesting story is that this wasn't a problem because of Switzerland's experience with large infrastructure construction: no railway project of this size will ever come in on budget, and Swiss politics as well as voters know that.

[@tabanne9738]

Suggestion: do one about the Jungfrau train. Already quite old but MEGA for sure. Highest trainstation in Europe on a glacier.

[@CaptHollister]

Someone's been watching the Tim Traveller, methinks

[@cr10001]

The illustration at 4:10 (while Simon is talking about 'a million freight containers a year') is actually the OLD Gotthard road, paved with cobbles, used only by a few tourists and the horse-drawn (also for tourists) 'post-bus' pictured at 1:53. (There's a new road, some in tunnel or snowsheds, up the other side of the valley, and the main low-level road tunnel well below that). But it's a lovely view of the Gotthard.

[@DinsdalePiranha67]

A 35-mile railroad tunnel? I "Gotthard" at the mere thought....

[@jimmyyu2184]

Great writing, great graphics, this is a good one. Something that focused on the engineering feat required rather than relying on the history of the project itself.

[@kmeanxneth]

Megaproject Suggestion: GPS Satellite Network

[@kingjames4886]

musknet is about to make that obsolete... the video would be dated within a year.

[@andyrbush]

Great to listen to a genuine enthusiast with real character and information, thank you.

[@anarcho-boulangistllamaent2023]

You could do an episode on the Brenner Base Tunnel, another big tunnel project in the Alps that is yet to be completed.

[@tessc997]

combined with the innsbruck bypass tunnel it will also surpass the GBT in length

[@a350fsx7]

But when when we built the Axentunnel and connect it with the GBT, we're longer again!

[@Engy_Wuck]

wasn't one of the problems of the BBT how to make sure that no (rain-)water from Austria flows through it to Italy and vice versa? So the highest pint will be exactly on (or below) the border instead of some saner point with less gradient overall...

[@J3scribe]

Hell of an achievement! The original Gotthard Pass railway was an astonishing megaproject itself, not the least of which are its 5 spiral tunnels.

[@gumbycat5226]

This is one of your best projects and reminds me of the last bank I worked for in Melbourne, which managed to waste $7 billion on its Next Gen project, which came to nothing, and of Melbourne's current mad and unplanned tunnel dig, which got half-way before finding it had hit a huge block of toxic soil. Why can't the Swiss come here and solve our problems!!!

[@christheswiss390]

I ran the Swiss company that built all the gates, TVMs, readers and the back-end SW system of the Myki system of Victoria years ago for the contractor to the government. I hope it still works?

[@gumbycat5226]

@@christheswiss390 it is working perfectly well

[@brianfleury1084]

I traveled from Zurich to Milan in June of 2000. The trip through the Alps, using the railway from before the the building of the tunnel was amazing. These were some of the most amazing views I have ever seen from a train. I was actually disappointed when I heard about the opening of the Goddard Tunnel because now the route into the Alps and though the pass is unnecessary.

[@midas1929]

They will run a tourist train on the old track

[@magnemoe1]

now an 15 km tunnel in 1882, now that is seriously impressive.

[@shaunmcdaniels2460]

An amazing endeavor!!! Very good video!!! I am simply humbled by the scale of it!!! A stright line is faster from point A to point B... What a time savings as well!!

[@jaewok5G]

on budget and on time? now we need a side-by-side comparison to "The Big Dig"

[@thomaswilkinson3241]

I've been working in EMS in Switzerland from 2011 to 2015. During these times I crossed the Alps several hundred times and experienced the crazy Weathershed effect, which was so amusing in Wintertime. One could have snow more than manheight north and sunshine, T-shirt weather, in the south.

[@brantwedel]

MERCH!!! I need that shirt!! (Links to it aren't setup yet tho, lol)

[@BoMulli]

Same!!! I want to Purch the Merch but no link

[@BoMulli]

Ollie B yep that’s the link for the business blaze merch

[@ollieb9875]

@@BoMulli oops I deleted my comment sorry. Yeah I see, wrong channel then. Cheers boss!

[@thereal2scummy636]

Perhthemerch.Co

[@ollieb9875]

@@thereal2scummy636 iirc perchthemerch.co for the rickroll isn't it

[@rileyhengel1100]

This man is amazing with his attention to detail even saying the current year when talking about construction, so when I undoubtedly watch this video again in the future I won’t have to check the description. Keep up the great work!

[@georgobergfell]

Ant the swiss just opened the Ceneri base tunnel, wich is basically an extention to the Gotthard base tunnel in the south

[@tabanne9738]

Yes, with it the NEAT is complete now, I think.

[@Jay-jq6bl]

@@tabanne9738 Pretty sure that's what he was talking about when he said there were plans to reduce the time to Milan even further.

[@tabanne9738]

@@Jay-jq6bl Yes and no. The NEAT has nothing to do with reducing travel times to Milan, directly. Of course, it is a nice side effect. NEAT is an abbreviation in German for "new railroad alp passage" and is part of a long past political decision to move the cargo transport from the road to the rail to protect the nature in the alps. It is also linked with a peoples initiative accepted by the Swiss people in 1994. The NEAT includes many tunnels and improvements on the railway tracks throughout Switzerland to ensure that the cargo can pass through the country on a train instead of trucks. So yes, the travel times are reduced, but originally the intention was different. When I said I guess, I meant that the Ceneri base tunnel was the last tunnel to be finished to complete the entire project. Not sure if there is some other track to be completed. Greetings from Switzerland.

[@jfolz]

@@tabanne9738 sounds pretty neat.

[@scotty1928]

tabanne there are quite a fee bridges and tracks to be completed in italy, still, and some in germany. Then the NEAT project will be completed.

[@kevinmottram9491]

Yay! I suggested this one. Thanks Simon! On time AND under budget. Just like the HS2 will be (yeah, right!).

[@MusashiSamurai]

I went on that tunnel back in January (2020)... _feels extremely weird talking about a holiday pre-Lockdown; but such a world did exist and it was awesome!_ You don't see much of the tunnel while inside, so I couldn't tell you how awesome or otherwise it was. But it is amazing the many ways the Swiss have found to cope with their extreme terrain and weather.

[@alirio128]

The chief electrical engineer told that on one occasion the TBM at Faido got stuck due to a fault with the huge transformer on the boring machine. Since the machine had been assembled inside the access tunnel, they couldn't just reverse it out of the tunnel to replace the transformer. At the meeting where he explained the issue to the management, his colleague, the chief mechanical engineer asked him to let his mechanics to have a go on it. They cut the TBM in half to extract the multi-ton transformer and lower it down to the tracks beneath the TBM. Once the faulty transformer was out, the replacement was inserted and the TBM was welded back together like it was a giant mechanical caesarian operation. Source: I worked for the Swiss Seismological Service and the chief electrical engineer gave us a tour on the TBM when we were servicing our sensors in the tunnel.

[@Hurbie_53]

All-in-all a very NEAT project by them Swiss 🇨🇭 See what I did there 😁

[@n000ah00]

very clever. 10/10 in terms of tunnel puns

[@bachmannmanuel1562]

Neat indeed😆

[@a350fsx7]

Die neue Eisenbahn Alpentransversale hehe

[@monkieie]

I used to work for the SBB (Swiss railway) and our dept. was responsible for the daily operations of the telecom eqpt down there. Had to chance to visit the tunnels and their 'Querstollen' (adjoining passageways) before it was all opened for traffic. Very impressive but not exactly low maintenance 😉

[@FreezingHotCoffee]

Simon: 'Merch links in the down below!' Also Simon: Doesn't put merch links down below

[@fredrickbeondo8695]

Merch link *is* there, but it's just the A-12 Archangel shirt LOL

[@2fercarol]

The opening ceremony said it all. Tribute to Baal.

[@TrashLock]

I was one of the lucky people to be able to visit the tunnel during its inauguration. Most unreal experience of my life!

[@BVonBuescher]

You mean the satanic ritual? That was one of the most vile, evil and creepy things I’ve ever seen in public or private. I don’t know how anyone could consider that bizarre unsettling event as positive. That is unless you work in Brussels I suppose. Not only was it a perfect mix of contemporary, globalist imagery, but it also removed any doubts regarding what the elites hold faith in.

[@atastro8723]

You mean the 5 hour satanic ritual? Jesus fuck

[@treeclimberdave]

That satanic celebration?

[@heinzruffieux5817]

Well done video. Thanks a lot. Honestly...as a Swiss citizen makes me feel a little bit proud! :-)

[@gamingcanadian7267]

imagine being the guy who was just like "so we got this annoying ass mountain and were gonna just brute force our way through the core of the mountain? kapiche?"

[@AlexanderWright1]

This is a very Swiss attitude to route planning.

[@CausticLemons7]

Thanks for all the good work you do. You might consider starting a miniseries for _Future Megaprojects_ and talk about projects that are, not just concepts, but actually being planned and prepped for construction.

[@1nCr3d1bL3Mr]

So they digged a hole trough the entire alps for 12.5B in a few years and Berlins new airport (basicly only a bit of concrete on a flat surface and terminals) cost way over 5B and after 15 years it´s still not finished.....

[@thomasstalder6708]

You got it.

[@Tokamak3.1415]

California 9Billion + spent on our high speed rail which they now admit will never run above 62mph (105kph) and they've laid down less than 2000ft of track in the middle of nowhere. Take your cement parking lot and count your blessings :P

[@bigbaddms]

@@Tokamak3.1415 You mean 10x that right? It's $80 BILLION and counting, to go from Merced to Bakersfield. What a deal! www.sfchronicle.com/news/article/Cost-of-California-s-high-speed-rail-rises-but-15052415.php

[@collocksb8408]

Suggestion: You must do an episode on the Dinorwig regenerative hydroelectric plant in North Wales. With Europe’s biggest man-made cavern, six turbines which can be at full generating capacity within 16 seconds for peak power and then use off-peak power to reverse the flow at night and refill the reservoir! Epic mega-project! Thanks for another great video. By the way, I’m also a big fan of trains having worked on preserved steam in the UK, including working on The Flying Scotsman and Sir Nigel Gresley (twin to Mallard, fastest steam locomotive in the world) among others. I think the construction of the Scottish Highland Line and also the Welsh mountain railways would be fascinating topics to cover in future video’s.

[@ArchFiendFolio]

On budget and on time... Swiss engineering

[@charickter]

Avalanche (quite small) left of center in the scene of the Alps (at about 11:37). Great stuff, Simon and the crew!

[@missjennemeg1]

The opening "ceremony" for this tunnel, tells me "never go in this tunnel"!

[@KD10Conqueror]

Satanic panic?

[@carlbyronrodgers]

I use the Gottard road tunnel often and I am looking forward to using the train tunnel. Looking forward to the new road tunnel as well.

[@RobWhittlestone]

Nice to hear about it in English for a change! Proud to be Swiss and British. Nice video Simon. FYI Faido is pronounced Fy - eedo. I was very impressed about the new through rail terminal in Zurich. Although smaller than the Gotthard Base Tunnel they did some cool tricks like divert a river underground while drilling the tunnels. There was a stunning exhibition shortly before it opened. All the best, Rob

[@joehoe222]

"You don't travel through Switzerland, you go underneath it." -my uncle when we were on holiday to Italy We checked this claim and our route was indeed 25% of tunnels.

[@deejayimm]

No mention of that really odd opening ceremony.

[@MrSam1er]

""""Art""""

[@rjc0234]

Well they dig their way into Hell and back. Must have found something that made them want to "procreate" with Goats.

[@stanstantalent.5605]

Fr, I was shook after watching that ceremony.

[@ding1466]

@@MrSam1er """""""""""""""""""""""Art""""""""""""""""""""""

[@ding1466]

@@stanstantalent.5605 its was straight up satanist. You could feel the vibes. Just made me feel sick, like vomity. Why that ceremony with a tunnel though? Is it of out of spite, like "hey God screw you, we can conquer you creation". I mean it's something like that.

[@michaelmitchell4989]

Thanks, Simon, for a very informative video. Being an American baby boomer, up to now my list of notable Swiss accomplishments had only included chocolate, watches and pocket knives.

[@benjaminbronnimann3966]

don't forget the cheese and banks

[@callabeth258]

You know the Australian is up too late when they get to watch the video within 1 minute of it being published...

[@carneeki]

As a Sydney resident, it is so worth it :)

[@AvoidTheCadaver]

As another Sydney resident I would agree also.

[@callabeth258]

Adam Carmichael I’m Gold Coast so same time zone

[@servant74]

In the headdy and scary days of the Cold War, at the same time we were being taught to 'duck and cover' so we could be cleaned up as nice toasty briquettes, the USA was building large groups of missile silo's and support complexes many places in the northern planes of the USA. How about 'unearthing' some of the info on their construction and possibly current uses (some are now houses, group survival condo's, some simply abandon. I think converting those would be fascinating. Current missile silo's are much smaller, but still could be good info, but the real info on them would be hard to get ahold of in comparison. Even some of the similar facilities in the USSR, across the EU and elsewhere would be great. This was a good vid on the GBTunnel.

[@p_serdiuk]

You missed the fact that Ceneri Base Tunnel, which lies just south of Gotthard Base Tunnel, opened just a week ago on September 3rd.

[@anthonybanchero3072]

Has internet trolls smeared it’s opening ceremony online? The Gothard and Ceneri Base Tunnels are amazing achievements. Wonder if the Swiss could do a Tehachapi Base Tunnel.

[@greywolf6443]

Gotta lova humanity. „Hey, there is a mountain range in the way of out railroad!“ … „And?“

[@extrastuff9463]

Early roman roads were deliberately kept straight as well, even if uh geography was in the way with hills and mountains. They did change that procedure though at some point to make it somewhat easier to get over the hills.

[@swisstestpilot]

There was a plan to use the emercency Stop/Plattforms and the elevatorhole who was just made to carry out the the trainwaggons full of stone for a real passenger trainstop the Project was called "Porta Alpina". But then was seen as not practical because a stoping train would reduce the numbers of fast trains per day who can get trugh the tunnel. Now in 2020 the traffic was not so high like expected an the Idea of "Porta Alpina" is again a option... Also the St.Gotthard mountain is in some way like a swiss chees ..full of hole.. The old Train tunnel, the new train tunels, the Higwaytunnel, soon the second highway tunnel. A old WW2 Fortress (today a undergound hotel), a old WW" artillerie fortress (today Museum Saso Gotthardo), some military "Parking" for Vehicles like trucks and so one, Military storage , a full equiped military hospital and a Command&Controll center.

[@nilstrieb]

And probably a lot more secret military stuff.

[@beathammer7420]

@@nilstrieb some of that stuff is so secret, even the government and the army have no clue about it's presence. occasionally some stuff gets found that everyone forgot that it was there ;-)

[@patricgertschnig9708]

WOW, not even a swiss could have explained it better 👏 very nice 👍

[@Shinzon23]

"We can't move mountains but we can go straight through them" *Atomic Demolition Charge* hold my beer

[@galaxystar8232]

I was actually in the tunnel during the construction on a sunday when they weren't working and it was just soo amazing

[@Stormynormy42]

Simon: "Check the link in the description!" Link in description: *doesn't exist* Must be another day that ends in "Y" 😂

[@daredaemon8878]

My suggestion: the Zuiderzee Works, one of (if not fully) the largest hydraulic engineering projects in history.

[@johntheux9238]

Could you talk about the "Grande Dixence" dam too?

[@barbararuthschatzmann8078]

That would be awesome!

[@TheBooban]

What about Gerd dam?

[@fb341]

First manned/unmanned moon landings! Your coverage of the Saturn V was amazing, but there were many other aspects to the Apollo program that are also impressive, such as the Lunar Excursion Module and Service module. Landing on the moon and returning to earth had to have been an enormous undertaking. Both India and Israel had unmanned landers crash on the moon in 2019, which makes the initial moon landings and first manned landing that much more impressive.

[@NicoNaude]

Mega Project suggestion: Western Deep Levels - deepest mine in the world.

[@toddlerj102]

i was thinking about mines, but in view of old mines an making geothermal power stations in them.

[@JeffDeWitt]

@@toddlerj102 That's a GREAT idea. I've been thinking for a long time that deep geothermal could meet a lot of our energy needs. No fuel, so solar panels or wind turbines to clutter the landscape (and chop up birds), and totally pollution free.

[@TCOphox]

The Swiss culture is honestly something to behold as a model. We must all try to adapt their ways.

[@BnORailFan]

Attention seekers: The earth is flat! Switzerland: Hold my beer

[@jeremycox2983]

Excellent video as always Simon Bravo Zulu keep them coming.

[@francisboyle1739]

4:48 "Sugary Dolomite"! I think I've discovered the secret ingredient in Toblerone.

[@michaelrenper796]

It was the scariest part of the project. Drilling through it is a nightmare! Why? You will get the feeling when you dig through gravel at the bottom of the ocean Minecraft.

[@alirio128]

@@michaelrenper796 Apparently they got stuck in one of the "sugary Dolomite" faults, to the point where they were unable to retrieve the head of the TBM. So they carved a path around the fault and came back from the opposite site to free the TBM...

[@DoDoENT]

Different weather conditions and up to 10 degrees centigrade of temperature difference on different ends of the tunnel. We have the same effect in Croatian Sv. Rok tunnel, which is only a bit longer than 5 km, but literally connects two different climate zones.

[@demoniack81]

I'd love an episode on the Autostrade network. Italy has some extremely challenging terrain to build motorways on, and what's been achieved in just 15-30 years after WW2 is truly incredible, especially the ones that go through the Appennini. For example the A7's first carriageway was built in the '30s in just 3 years and the motorway offers spectacular views, as it rides right up the side of the mountains and switches from one side of the valley to the other many times, with the northbound carriageway over or underpassing the southbound one multiple times. It's also quite unique because, due to being built one half at a time, the southbound carriageway features lots of fascist era brick embankment supports and bridges, while the northbound one built later generally has more modern concrete construction and (moderately) larger radius bends. The A26 (not too far from the A7) is more modern and has _so many_ tunnels it is literally called "autostrada dei trafori", or "the tunnel motorway". In its Appennine crossing tract there are really long stretches where you exit a tunnel onto a viaduct, and the viaduct ends into the entrance of another tunnel. One of the A6's carriageways used to be a FIAT test track and a Lancia LC2 set a speed record of 387km/h on it. I'm sure there's lots of other interesting ones that I'm forgetting or don't know about, but you get the gist - lots of quirky history, big bridges and tunnels, etc. Oh, also the A8 was the first toll motorway in the world built in 1924, so you've got us to thank for inventing tolls. /s

[@flappergast1012]

i can not understand you only have 300k subs - this channel is on my top 5 any day!! Good Work!! - On new mega projects you could look in to the Danish Great Belt Bridge - Im danish - but it's a mega project any way - and with its own drama (hint: tunnel and water )

[@jacobhuff3748]

We should make the Switzerland the Saint of engineering and steal their secrets for finishing on budget and time.

[@bachmannmanuel1562]

Swiss ingenuity cant be copyed. We Copyrightet it😆

[@felixlohrer9600]

The only unique SWISS Part of that solution is the political way of decision: A peoples poll! So no change in government, no local environmentalist, no lorry-lobbyist had a chance to change or interfere with the 20-year-plan! And then, they followed another principle - get the best specialists from all over the world. Tunneling machines came from German Company Herrenknrecht and a lot of workers I heard in Interviews did not sound like born Swiss. To them, it does not matter to be proud of who does it, but to be proud of who takes benefit - and that is the Swiss People. Ah - I nearly forgot. When they ask for quotations, they do NOT have to take the cheapest offer as they know (and who does not...), that there must be something wrong if one offers the same service / work / product cheaper than all the others...

[@jacobhuff3748]

@@felixlohrer9600 you took fun out of it, it would been entertaining to try to steal it. Have to say most of that makes sense especially the part about the lowest bid.

[@benedictdesilva6677]

@@jacobhuff3748 You can steal it very easily. Just steal the system of *radical direct democracy* for which Switzerland has been the world's only laboratory since 1848. Actually there's no need to steal, just copying it would do ;-)

[@skyden24195]

Love the new Megaprojects shirt designs. That SR-12 one looks very badass.

[@calcifur]

how are you not going to mention the bizarre opening ceremony?

[@Owdaks]

Because willingly or unwillingly, he's serving the same master

[@lucariolps277]

@@Owdaks "he's serving the same masters" the opening ceremony just depicted local myths and culture. But sure make a gugantic conspiracy out of it

[@Doctors_TARDIS]

On Business Blaze Simon is ya boy with the blaze On Megaprojects he's the man with the plans

[@Tinu-1987]

Was great to be able to drive 10km with a bike in the tunnel when there was no rails.

[@paulybassman7311]

I hate to point out Simon... (and i will buy a Tshirt) but the A12 was a single seat precurser to the later 2 seat YF-12 and the SR- 71 the "A12" blueprint on the T shirt shows two cockpit canopies so its YF-12 or SR-71. Badda Bommm Pishhhhhh! Keep making Awesome content 👍😎👌