The Gotthard base tunnel under the Swiss Alps is an "engineering tour-de-force" at 57.5 kilometres in length. Its nearest rival is the Seikan Tunnel in Japan, at 53.9 km.
Globe and Mail reporter Eric Rebuly writes, "The new tunnel, which took $12.5-billion (U.S.) and almost 20 years to build, is designed as the key component in the creation of a high-speed corridor that will whiz freight and passengers from as far north as Europe’s busiest port – Rotterdam, in the Netherlands – all the way south through Switzerland and into Italy’s northern industrial heartland." Working around the clock in three shifts, some 2,600 workers completed the tunnel project almost a year ahead of schedule.
Piotr Boruslawski provides additional coverage of the project, with lots of images, for designboom.
FULL STORY: Gotthard or go home: How a Swiss supertunnel can tie Europe together
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