Gotthard Base Tunnel:Surveying the Drive, Laser Scanning and Track Position Control

This report deals with the surveying activities carried out for building the world’s longest
rail tunnel (57 km), which constitutes part of
the goods transport corridor from Rotterdam
to Genoa. The Gotthard Base Tunnel runs from its north portal at Erstfeld through the Swiss Alps to the south portal at Bodio. With rock overburden of up to 2300 m the Gotthard Base Tunnel is also the deepest lying rail tunnel ever built.

Since building officially began in 1993 with the first exploratory tunnel in the geologically tricky Piora Zone, altogether 152 km of tunnels, shafts and headings have been excavated. Tunnel driving took place parallel in the five sections Erstfeld, Amsteg, Sedrun, Faido and Bodio. Excavating was completed on October 15, 2010 with the main breakthrough between Sedrun and Faido. Currently the inner lining is being finished off along with the installation of the rail technology. The tunnel is due to be opened in 2016.

An Overview of Surveying Tasks

The construction of the Gotthard Base Tunnel...

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Issue 04/2010 Dachzeilentext Englisch

Gotthard Base Tunnel: Surveying by the Client

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Requirements on Surveying At the very most 25 cm crosswise and along the tunnel and 12.5 cm in elevation are tolerated as deviations for the Gotthard breakthroughs. In order to remain inside these...

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Gotthard Base Tunnel: Track Installation completed

At the end of October 2014 the final sections of track were laid in the Gotthard Base Tunnel (GBT). This means that the world’s longest rail tunnel can now be negotiated over its entire 57 km length...

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Rail Technology for the Gotthard Base Tunnel

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Rail Technology in the Gotthard Base Tunnel

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The rail technology embraces all components and systems, which belong to the “actual rail technical system”: the track, electric installations for supplying power for the rail technology and the...

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Issue 08/2011 Switzerland

Gotthard Base Tunnel: Industrial Safety

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