Domains
Railways;Tunnel & Underground
Client
AlpTransit Gotthard Ltd, Swiss Federal Railways (SBB)
Time frame
Construction cost
CHF 1'630'000'000
Services
- Design
- Construction management
- Geology
Phases
- Final design
- Permit-obtaining procedure
- Tender design
- Construction design
- Preliminary design
- Construction
- Commissioning, completion
Services in JV with partners
The Project
With a length of 15.4 km, the Ceneri Base Tunnel is the southernmost part of the larger Alp-Transit project, which is part of the European Rhine-alpine corridor. Thanks in part to its completion, northern and southern Europe are now closer together. Designed for a speed of 250 km/h, the project consists of two single-track tunnels connected by cross-passages every 325 m. The tunnel is mainly in rock with a maxi-mum overburden of 800 m. Excavation is by drill and blast, TBM and mechanically assisted tunnelling in soft ground. After support measures with rock bolts, shotcrete and steel arches, the waterproofing and drainage system is installed and the final concrete lining is put in place. Interior finishes, cable network, concrete slab track, rigid catenary, ventilation and electrical equipment complete the infrastructure.
When speed takes time
Shortening the Lugano-Locarno railway line by 21 minutes took almost thirty years, giving southern Swiss residents a new perspective on time and space. Previously distant places are now closer, there are more choices of where to live and work, and greater opportunities have become available. The Ceneri Base Tunnel is a regional, national, and European structure that runs along a main European railway corridor. Drilling through a mountain is never an easy task. Drilling through the Alps even less so. But with respect for the mountains as motivation, ARX pushed forward to reduce heavy road transport and energy consumption, making roads safer and bringing people and cultures together. Facing the challenge of excavating up to ten meters under a motorway, they gathered their best experts and harnessed the team’s creative abilities. The resulting design creatively combines functionality with aesthetics. There are projects that allow people and businesses to grow, projects that transform the life of a community. This is one of them.
The Ceneri Base Tunnel is a milestone in the progress of rail mobility at the Swiss level, being a fundamental element within the ambitious AlpTransit project
This infrastructure significantly improves connectivity also between the major urban centers of Canton Ticino, promoting more sustainable and integrated mobility and marking an era of development that has involved the ARX for two decades.
All of this has deeply influenced my professional and personal development, so traveling through the Ceneri Base Tunnel is an emotion that is worth much more than the price of the ticket!
Group CTO/ Chief Regional Officer North West Europe
Davide Merlini
