Image copyright AFP Image caption This photo was taken on October 15, 2010. Workers stand at a huge tunneling shield, with the help of which the tunnel was built.

The world's longest and deepest Gotthard railway tunnel opened today in Switzerland. Its construction took almost 20 years and more than $12 billion.

Its permanent operation will begin in December.

Swiss authorities say the tunnel will revolutionize the transport of goods in Europe. Goods that are now transported by millions of trucks every year will be transported by rail.

This technological marvel will provide faster and easier communication between southern and northern Europe. The tunnel will speed up the movement of goods and people and reduce pollution environment vehicle exhaust gases.

Swiss authorities predict that 260 freight trains will be able to pass through the tunnel per day. 20 million passengers a year will be able to use the new highway. Travel time from Zurich to Milan will be reduced to 2 hours 50 minutes.

Conquest of the Alps as part of self-identification

Until now, the world's longest railway tunnel was considered the Japanese Seikan with a length of 53.9 km with an underwater fragment 23.3 km long.

Image copyright Reuters Image caption The Gotthard tunnel runs under the Alps - the maximum height of the mountains above the tunnel is 2300 meters

The Gotthard Tunnel was also ahead of the length of the Channel Tunnel, which is 50.5 km long.

It is not only the longest tunnel in the world, it is also the deepest railway tunnel in existence: the maximum height of the mountains above the tunnel is 2300 meters. Without a powerful ventilation system, the temperature in it would reach +40 degrees.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande will be present at the grand opening ceremony of the tunnel in Switzerland along with Swiss officials.

"It's part of the Swiss identity," Peter Fuglisthaler, head of the Swiss federal department of transport, was quoted by Reuters.

"For us, the conquest of the Alps is the same as the exploration of the oceans for the Dutch," he said.

Tunnel price: $12 billion and 9 lives

The project, which cost more than $12 billion to build, was approved by the Swiss in a referendum in 1992.

Image copyright EPA Image caption 20 million passengers a year will be able to use the new highway

During the construction of the tunnel, engineers extracted 73 different types of rocks: some were hard like granite, others soft like sugar. Nine workers died during construction.

The Gotthard Tunnel, completed on time and on budget, will become a mainline railway linking Rotterdam in the Netherlands with Italian Genoa. The tunnel, consisting of two parallel tunnels, runs from the municipality of Bodio in southern Switzerland to the municipality of Erstfeld in the center of the country.

From December, when the permanent operation of the tunnel begins, the journey from Zurich to Milan will take two hours and forty minutes - an hour less than usual.

The money to finance the project was taken from budget revenues from taxes on fuel and value added, another part of the funds is a state loan, which must be repaid within 10 years.

Representatives of the Swiss bank Credit Suisse said that among the economic benefits of the Gotthard Tunnel is the simplified transportation of goods and the influx of tourists.

A tunnel is an underground or underwater structure, the main purpose of which is to ensure the movement of vehicles or the movement of water over long distances.

Since ancient times, tunnels (underground passages) have been common, although they were used mainly by people who secretly moved through them or hid from enemies.

Today, tunnels are built for various purposes, so they are classified according to their purpose: railway, automobile, sewer, water supply facilities and others.

The longest railway tunnel in the world

In 2017, the Gotthard Base Tunnel in Switzerland is considered the longest railway tunnel in the world. In addition to setting a record for length, it is also defined as the deepest tunnel in the world, since the distance from the surface of the mountains in some places is equal to 2300 km.

The construction was carried out for 17 years, and the first projects appeared in 1947. The grand opening took place on June 1, 2016, although test movements around the facility have been launched since 2015. And since December 2016, the tunnel has been operated at full capacity.

The Gotthard Tunnel is laid under Saint Gotthard, a mountain pass in the Swiss Alps. Its length is equal to 57 km, and given that the tunnel consists of two parallel overpasses, the construction mileage doubles. On these two parallel shafts, movement is made in the opposite direction. High-speed trains reach speeds of up to 250 km/h, freight trains - 160 km/h.

When creating the tunnel project, technologies were used that ensure maximum safety during transportation. A system has been set up to evacuate people in case of an accident (one tunnel serves as an exit from another every 325 meters), and the availability of modern computer systems allows you to quickly respond to emerging problems. Also in the tunnel are emergency stations and mines. Its construction cost $12 billion.

As of 2017, 260 freight and 65 high-speed trains pass through the tunnel per day, with an average travel time of 20 minutes.

The longest road tunnel in the world

is a land of fjords and mountains. Its beauty is undeniable, but from a practical point of view, moving around Norway is extremely difficult, since you either have to overcome mountain ranges or use a ferry even for short distances. The situation stabilized when active construction of underground facilities began in Norway.

Lerdal tunnel (Lerdal) - the longest road tunnel in the world. Its construction began in 1995, and in 2000 the facility was already put into operation. The length of Lerdal is 24.5 km, however, it will take 20 minutes to overcome it, since it is forbidden to develop a high speed in the tunnel. Considering the monotony of the road, special measures for the safety of passengers were applied during the design.

To ensure the attentiveness of the driver, “curved” sections were built on a straight road, and after overcoming a distance of 6 km, you can relax in artificially created caves (grottoes). In the same section of the tunnel, a car is supposed to turn around if necessary. The developers paid great attention to the lighting of the object. There is white illumination throughout, and the caves are highlighted with blue-yellow light, reminiscent of a sunrise. Also, noise strips are installed on the track to attract the attention of the driver.

In Lerdal, there were no options for equipping emergency exits, so telephones were installed at a distance of 250 meters to call for emergency help. Fire extinguishers are placed along the entire length of the route, and if an emergency occurs, the drivers are warned about this by the activated inscriptions “Turn around to the exit”. A special computer system counts cars at the entrance and exit, so in the event of an emergency, it is reliably known whether the cars remained inside the tunnel.

Thanks to Lerdal, the journey time was halved, previously it took 50 minutes to overcome this distance through the mountains. However, many prefer the "traditional" mode of travel, finding the Lerdal Tunnel too monotonous to travel.

The longest tunnels in Russia

The Severo-Muisky tunnel is considered the longest railway tunnel in Russia. Its length equates to 15.3 km, and the construction took 26 years, including serious unplanned interruptions in work.

The North Muya tunnel is part of the Baikal-Amur Mainline (BAM), its construction began in 1977, and the official opening took place in 2003. Theoretically, the service life is calculated for 100 years.

The tunnel is located in a seismic zone equivalent to 9 points. Sometimes there were two strong earthquakes a day, after which the construction of the facility was stopped for a long period of time. Difficulties arose both because of the harsh local climate and because of the mountainous terrain. The combination of these factors significantly hampered the construction, affecting the timing and financial part. In total, 9 billion rubles were spent on the construction of the tunnel.

Today, an average of 15 trains pass through the Severo-Muisky tunnel, with a travel time of 15 minutes (previously this distance was covered in 1.5 hours). The developed speed of trains varies from 48 to 56 km/h.

However, difficult natural conditions in the area of ​​the tunnel are under the supervision of geologists around the clock to prevent serious accidents.

If we talk about road tunnels in Russia, then the leading position in terms of length is occupied by the Gimrinsky tunnel, built in Dagestan. Its length is 4303 meters, and the hourly workload is 4000 cars moving along 4 different lanes.

The construction of the tunnel began in 1979, and in 1991 it gradually began to be put into operation, while continuing to carry out construction work. In 2007, the tunnel was closed due to terrorist attacks, however, since 2012 it has been considered officially open again.

The Gimrinsky tunnel is one of the most modern, because during the reconstruction, expensive equipment from Italy was used, made specifically for this project. A seismic laboratory has been placed next to the tunnel to prevent emergencies. Each section of the tunnel has lighting, it is also equipped with automatic fire alarms, emergency telephones, and more. The construction estimate amounted to 10 billion rubles.

In the capital of Russia, the Lefortovo tunnel occupies the first place in terms of length, 3.2 km long and 7 lanes for traffic. It is located in the southeastern part of Moscow, known as the "tunnel of death".

This nickname has a simple explanation. The hourly workload of the tunnel is 3,500 vehicles, but during peak hours the number doubles. This factor leads to a large number fatal accidents, so the tunnel is considered the most dangerous in Russia.

The longest tunnels in Europe and new construction projects

In addition to the Gotthard Tunnel, described above, the Eurotunnel, the second longest in Europe, is of particular interest. The length of the Eurotunnel is 51 km, 39 km of which lie under the English Channel. Thanks to this tunnel, Europe is connected to the UK, and in America it is recognized as "one of the wonders of the world." The average fare is 17 euros per person.

The Lechberg in Switzerland (34 km), the Guadarrama tunnel (28.4 km) and others are also very long. However, every year new large-scale tunnel projects appear, striving to set world records in their length.

The most interesting project the future is recognized as the Transatlantic Tunnel. Its purpose is to build a path from North America to Europe, passing under the Atlantic Ocean. According to the plan, the Transatlantic Tunnel will be 88 times the length of the Gotthard Tunnel. True, by 2017 only the construction project was developed in detail, the start of work was postponed indefinitely.

The main problem of construction is financing. Average cost estimates range from $175 billion to $12 trillion. Therefore, it is not known when the planned project will be put into practice.

Relief earth's surface not perfectly flat, but almost always difficult, so it is almost impossible to do without tunnels when laying roads. The prototypes of tunnels in ancient times were tunnels, with the help of this military trick it was possible to quietly get behind the back of the enemy and fall on his shoulders. Today's tunnels, for the most part, serve completely different purposes. Tunnels are very different, differing in length, location and structure. What is currently the most long tunnel in the world?

10. Lerdal Tunnel, Norway (24,510 m)

In this case, we are talking about a road tunnel that shortened the path from the municipality of Lärdal to another municipality of Aurland (both in the province of Sogn og Fjordane, Western Norway). The tunnel is an element of the European route E16, connecting Oslo with Bergen. The construction of this tunnel began in 1995 and was completed in 2000. At that time, it became the longest road tunnel in the world, surpassing the famous Gotthard road tunnel by as much as 8 km. Above the tunnel are mountains with an average height of about 1600 meters.
The Lerdal tunnel has a unique feature - it has three large artificial grottoes at the same distance from each other. These grottoes break the tunnel itself into 4 approximately identical sections. This is not a whim of architects, but the purpose of grottoes is to relieve fatigue from drivers who drive for a long time in completely monotonous tunnel conditions, and besides, they can stop and rest here.

9. Iwate-Ichinohe, Japan (25,810 m)

The Japanese tunnel connecting the capital with the city of Aomori, at the time of its opening in 2002, it was he who was the longest Japanese railway tunnel, until the Lötschberg tunnel overtook him. This tunnel is located 545 kilometers from Tokyo, halfway between Hachinohe and Morioka, and Chohoku express trains run through it. We thought about its construction in 1988, and started it in 1991. The facility was ready for operation in 2000, but the line started operating only in 2002. The tunnel goes down to a maximum of 200 meters.

8. Hakkoda, Japan (26,455 m)

The Hakkod railway tunnel is only slightly longer than the previous one. He was a kind of pioneer - before him there were no long tunnels in the world through which trains could simultaneously move in different directions.

7. Taihang, China (27,848 m)

In 2007, a new Taihangshan tunnel was put into operation in China, passing through the thickness of the tunnel of the same name. mountain range. Before the construction of the New Guan Jiao, it was he who was the longest Chinese tunnel. It became an element of a high-speed railroad that connected the capital of the eastern province of Hebei, Shijiach-Juan, with the capital of the adjoining Shanxi province from the west, the city of Taiyuan. If earlier it took 6 hours to get from one city to another, now an hour is enough.

6. Guadarrama, Spain (28,377 m)

In the same 2007, but in Spain, the opening of the longest tunnel in the country Guadarrama took place, which connected the capital of the country Madrid with Valladolid. It began to be built in 2002, so it is obvious that this was done at a fairly rapid pace. This is a rather complex technical structure, which also contains two separate tunnels. Thanks to this, trains run along it simultaneously in different directions. It is especially worth noting that high-speed trains of the AVE system are used here. After the launch of the tunnel, it became possible to get from one city to another in just a few minutes. This was especially liked by tourists, who began to visit Valladolid more often from the capital.

Each culture has its own way of life, traditions and delicacies in particular. What seems normal to some people may be perceived as...

5. New Guan Jiao, China (32,645 m)

This is China's longest railway tunnel. At the same time, being located, as it should be for a tunnel underground, it is located at a very decent height above sea level (from 3324 meters to 3381 meters). And all because it is part of the second line of the Qinghai-Tibet railway, laid in the mountains of Guan Jiao, China's Qinghai province. In fact, there are two separate tunnels with one-way traffic. This tunnel was built for 7 years, and it was put into operation at the very end of 2014. Trains are able to rush through these tunnels at a speed of 160 km/h.

4. Lötschberg, Switzerland (34,577 m)

The Lötschberg railway tunnel is located on the line of the same name passing through the Alps, and it is located 400 meters deeper than the Lötschberg road tunnel. Passenger and freight trains ply through this one of the longest land tunnels in the world. It passes under cities such as Bern, Frutigen, Valais and Rarone. This is a fairly new tunnel, because it was only completed in 2006, and in June of the following year it was officially opened. During its passage, the most modern technologies drilling, so it was possible to break through in less than two years. Now more than 20,000 Swiss use it every week, seeking to quickly get to the thermal spas in Valais.
The arrival of Lötschberg has greatly reduced the amount of traffic congestion in the area, since previously trucks and vans had to bypass Switzerland, making a big circle just from Valais to Bern. It is curious that in the tunnel there is a source of hot underground water, which the Swiss also do not waste for nothing, but use it to heat the greenhouse, where tropical fruits grow thanks to this.

Most people want to get a window seat on an airplane so they can enjoy the views below, including takeoff and d...

3. Eurotunnel, France/UK (50,450 m)

This tunnel, laid under the English Channel, is a double-track railway tunnel, while it runs 39 kilometers under the waters of the English Channel. Thanks to him, the island of Great Britain was connected with the continent by rail. Since then, it has become possible to take a train in Paris and be in London in two and a quarter hours. At the same time, the train stays in the tunnel itself for 20-35 minutes.
The grand opening of the tunnel took place on May 6, 1994. It was attended by the leaders of the two countries - French President Francois Mitterrand and Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain. The Eurotunnel holds the record for underwater tunnels and is also the longest international tunnel. It is operated by the Eurostar company. The American Society of Civil Engineers was full of compliments and even compared the Eurotunnel with one of seven modern wonders Sveta.

2. Seikan, Japan (53,850 m)

This incredibly long Japanese railway tunnel also has an underwater section of 23.3 kilometers. It deepens underground by 240 meters, resulting in 100 meters below the seabed. The tunnel runs under the Sangar Strait and connects Aomori Prefecture (Honshu Island) and Hokkaido Island. It is part of the Kaikyo and Hokkaido Shinkansen of the local railway company.
In length, it is second only to the Gotthard Tunnel, and in terms of its occurrence under the seabed, it is the leader in the world. The name of the tunnel contains the first hieroglyphs of the names of the cities that it connects - Amori and Hakodate, they are just pronounced differently in Japanese. The Seikan Tunnel is Japan's second undersea railway tunnel after the Kammon Tunnel, and it connects the islands of Kyushu and Honshu under the Kammon Strait.

The Trans-Siberian Railway or the Great Siberian Way, which connects the Russian capital Moscow with Vladivostok, until recently bore an honorary title with ...

1. Gotthard Tunnel, Switzerland (57,091 m)

This railway tunnel, pierced in the Swiss Alps, when summing up its own length with the length of pedestrian and service passages, will stretch for 153.4 kilometers. From the north end it exits near the village of Erstfeld, while the south exit is located near the village of Bodio. The laying of its eastern part was completed in October 2010, and the western part in March 2011, after which it became the longest railway tunnel in the world.
Thanks to its construction, the transalpine rail service became possible, and the north-west of Italy was able to switch from more environmentally polluted road transport to cleaner and cheaper rail transport. Travel time from Zurich to Milan was reduced by almost an hour. The tunnel was opened in June 2016. Alp Transit Gotthard, which supervises its construction, in December of the same year transferred it to the Swiss Federal railways in fully operational condition, and already on December 11, its commercial operation began.

March 1, 1880 and the construction of the railway was completed tunnel on the pass Saint Gotthard in Switzerland - the most complex engineering structure of those times, which became a symbol of the subordination of nature by man. And today we will talk about a few the world's greatest and most significant tunnels- from the already mentioned St. Gotthard in the Alps to the Marmaray line under the Bosphorus, which opened in October 2013, each of which marked a new milestone in the development of their country.

Gotthard tunnel. Switzerland

The Saint Gotthard Pass in the Alps is known in Russia thanks to the feat of the commander Alexander Suvorov, who crossed it with great difficulty and losses in the autumn of 1799. And in 1880, it became much easier to overcome the mountains in this area, because the construction of a 15-kilometer railway tunnel, one of the most famous such structures in the world, was completed there. It greatly simplified the movement of goods across Europe, and also became one of the keys to the economic well-being of Switzerland.

In 1980, not far from the century-old railway tunnel, an automobile tunnel 16.9 kilometers long was opened. And now, construction is underway on an even larger structure at the St. Gotthard Pass - a 57-kilometer railway tunnel, which, when it enters service in 2017, will become the longest in the world.

Seikan Tunnel. Japan

In 1954, a tragic event occurred in Japan - during an unprecedented storm in the Sangar Strait between the islands of Honshu and Hokkaido, five passenger ferries sank, which led to the death of more than a thousand people. And it was far from the first such disaster in this place - ships plying between the two largest Japanese islands have been dying regularly for centuries. To finally solve this problem, the Japanese government decided to build a tunnel under the strait.

Work on this structure began in 1964 and lasted more than twenty years. Opened in 1988, the 54-kilometer Seikan became the longest railway tunnel in the world and still holds this record.

In 1988, about 3 million passengers used the services of the Sangar Tunnel, in 1999 - 2 million, and in 2009 - just over a million. For comparison, the annual volume of passenger traffic between Honshu and Hokkaido is ten times greater. But as a freight road, this tunnel has no worthy competitors.

Eurotunnel. France-UK

It's hard to believe, but the idea of ​​building a tunnel between France and Great Britain appeared in the late eighteenth - early nineteenth century, and Napoleon Bonaparte himself was the "customer" of the project. But real progress in this direction began only after the Second World War, while the construction itself started only in December 1987.

The grand opening of the Eurotunnel took place on May 6, 1994 with the participation of Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain and French President Jacques Chirac. Tunnels (only three: two transport and one technical) are used as railways - high-speed trains TGV Eurostar and Eurotunnel Shuttle run through them in both directions, connecting London with Paris and Brussels. The Eurotunnel accounts for 67% of passenger traffic between France and England.

Lerdal Tunnel. Norway

Built in Norway in 1995-2000, the Lerdal Tunnel can be called the most beautiful such engineering structure on the planet. In addition, it is the longest road tunnel in the world, because its length is 24.5 kilometers.

In order to at least slightly diversify the route of advance and relieve stress on the drivers, the architects who worked on the Lerdal tunnel divided it into four approximately equal parts with three artificial caves. Each of these grottoes has its own color of illumination, which gives originality and beauty to this engineering object. You can also stop in these caves, park in special septic tanks, and relax a bit.

Oresund bridge. Denmark, Sweden

It is not entirely logical that a bridge connecting two Scandinavian countries - Denmark and Norway - was included in the list of the greatest tunnels in the world. But no error in this fact no, because of the almost 12 kilometers of the length of this structure, 4050 meters are underground.

The architects of the Øresund Bridge made such an extraordinary decision for the reason that it is in this place that the glide path of aircraft heading to Copenhagen Airport passes, and it cannot be blocked. Yes, and ships going through the Øresund Strait also need space for successful navigation.

Severomuysky tunnel. Russia

On December 5, 2003, a historic event for the whole of Russia took place in Buryatia - the Severomuysky tunnel 15 kilometers 343 meters long was opened there. It became not only the longest in Russia, but also marked the end of the construction of the Baikal-Amur Mainline, the legendary BAM, one of the greatest construction projects of the Soviet era.

The construction of the Baikal-Amur Mainline began in 1938, in 1974 it was declared an all-Union shock Komsomol construction site, they began to write songs and make films about it, and ended in the estimated volume only in 2003. When creating the BAM, 10 tunnels were pierced, the largest and the most important of which was Severomuysky.

Marmaray. Türkiye

In October 2013, an event happened that Mankind had been dreaming of for centuries, but did not believe in the reality of which until the very last moment. In Istanbul, the Marmaray railway tunnel was opened, connecting the European and Asian shores of the Bosphorus.

After the opening, Marmaray was integrated into the Istanbul metro system as a separate branch. It is also planned to be used for transcontinental freight and passenger traffic - the tunnel will become part of a global railway project to create a single track infrastructure from the UK to South Korea.