ST. GOTHARD TUNNEL. 



The capital was at first fixed at 102,000,000 

 francs, or 4,080,000. Of this, 1,860,000 

 was raised by shares, and tho remaining 2,- 

 720,000 by bonds. The International Associa- 

 tion consist. -el of three groups: that of Ger- 

 many, which found 84,000,000 francs; that of 

 Italy, whi.-h supplied 34,iMM,ito(t francs; and 

 tlmt <>f S\vit/orlaml, which furnished the re- 

 maining third. The groups consisted solely of 

 :s and finance companies, and among the 

 names may bo found the houses of Rothschild, 

 Oppenheitn, etc. The final formation of the 

 St. (I. it hard Company was completed in De- 

 cember, 1871. The primary surveys had, how- 

 ever, been made by M. Gelpko as early as 1869. 

 The final staking out of tho ground a work 

 of great difficulty, as may be imagined when 

 we state that no fewer than fifteen stations 

 were required, many of them in situations all 

 but inaccessible was satisfactorily accom- 

 plished. The work was begun at both ends, 

 and the lines met with an error of but four 

 inches in the middle, which we regard as a 

 triumph of trigonometrical surveying, bearing in 

 mind the difficulties to be overcome. It was 

 finally decided that the dimensions of the tun- 

 nel should be nearly identical with those of tho 

 Mont Cenis Tunnel. The height to the crown 

 of the arch is to be 6 metres, or 19.68 feet; 

 maximum width, 8 metres, or 26.24 feet; and 

 minimum width, 24.93 feet. Various systems 

 of construction are adopted, according to the 

 nature of the ground. The works were let 

 by contract to M. Favre, of Geneva, in the 

 summer of 1872. Seven tenders were received. 

 Of these, two- were withdrawn ; a third did not 

 supply satisfactory information as to the sys- 

 tem of construction the contractor proposed to 

 adopt; and* of the remaining four, two were 

 struck off the list. Only two competitors re- 

 mained M. Favre and the Italian Company of 

 Public Works ; but the latter required nine 

 years to make the tunnel, and M. Favre only 

 eight, and whereas the Italian Company would 

 only forfeit the caution money 320,000 if 

 the work was not complete in eleven years, M. 

 Favre consented to pay it over at the end of 

 nine years. Again, the Italian Company wanted 

 about half a million sterling more than M. 

 Favre. The work began in June, 1872, at G6- 

 sohenen, and at Airolo on the 1st of July in the 

 same year. The rock to be pierced consists at 

 the GOscbenen end for the most part of a hard 

 granitic gneiss, much fissured, but free from 

 water. At the Airolo end, gravel, sand, and 

 pebbles, were first met with, and then yellow 

 limestone. Gypsum, talc, and mica-schist, were 

 also found ; finally a dolomite. This did not 

 last, however, and at about 286 feet from the end 

 a bed of schist was pierced, which discharged 

 torrents of water, and was only traversed with 

 the utmost difficulty. The work is carried on 

 by drilling holes by machinery worked by com- 

 pressed air, and exploding charges of dynamite 

 in these holes. In tiie beginning the drills were 

 worked by temporary steam-engines which 



.supplied the compressed air required. Bat now 

 tin. . turbines, worked by a fall of 279 feet, 

 erected at Gouchonen, drive the compreMen. 

 These work to 600-horse power. At Airolo 

 three other turbines, each work nnder a head 

 of 541 feet, to 210-horsepower. Each turbine 

 actuated three Colladon compressors, supplying 

 per minute 2,258 cubic feet of air at seven 

 atmospheres. Thus, in all, at least 1,200- 

 horse power can bo brought to bear on the 

 works. 



The tunnel starts from Airolo, on tho south- 

 ern, or Italian side, and runs to GOschenen, on 

 the northern, or Swiss side of the Alps. The 

 lino was set out by M. O. Gelpke, 0. E. No 

 direct measurements could be obtained, but the 

 possible error in length amounts to only about 

 two feet either way. The tunnel is approached 

 at the GOschenen end by a rising grade of 1 in 

 40, on a line made from Altorf, on the Lake of 

 Lucerne, by way of the valley of the Keuss. 

 Just outside the tunnel is a short bit of level. 

 The line then rises at the rate of 1 in 171.8 to 

 a point not far from the centre of the tunnel, 

 where another short piece of level will connect 

 the rising grade with one falling to Airolo at 

 the rate of 1 in 1,000. Then comes a short 

 length of level on a line now in course of con- 

 struction from Airola to Bellinzona, which will 

 establish communication with the Ticino Val- 

 ley. The road will be double through the tun- 

 nel and perfectly straight, with the exception 

 of a curve 15 chains radius and 475.73 feet long, 

 near the southern, or Italian end. The total 

 length of the tunnel proper, not including the 

 cuttings at either end, will be 14,900 metres, 

 or nine miles 455 yards a length greater than 

 that of the Mont Cenis Tunnel by about 1.4 

 mile. The highest portion will be 3,781 feet 

 above the level of the sea. To assist the ven- 

 tilation it is proposed to construct a shaft at 

 Andermatt, which will be about 340 yards 

 deep, and will enter the tunnel about 3$- kilo- 

 metres, or 2. 17 miles, from the G6schenen end. 

 According to the report issued by the Federal 

 Council at the end of 1874, the gallery driven 

 on the north side of tho tunnel at Goschenen 

 had been advanced 1,771 yards, and on the 

 southern end at Airolo 1,455 yards. Only 95 

 yards of the vaulting had been finished on the 

 north side ; on the south side 357 yards of the 

 tunnel had been vaulted. On the north side 

 the rock bored had been principally hard gran- 

 ite. The moisture was inconsiderable. About 

 1,740 yards from the opening, the tunnel passed 

 under the bed of the river Reuss at a depth of 

 262 yards. The boring of the gallery pro- 

 ceeds regularly at the rate of about three yards 

 per day, that distance being accomplished by 

 the aid of six of Ferroux's machines. On the 

 south side, at Airolo, the gallery runs almost 

 constantly through hornblende, difficult to 

 pierce and of a very tenacious nature. The 

 great influx of water was met with at a depth 

 of 1,402 yards, amounting to two litres per 

 second. In this working, seven of Dnbois & 



