GENEVA, Switzerland - Workers toiling deep beneath the Swiss Alps are inching toward a breakthrough in what will soon be the world's longest railway tunnel, the Associated Press reports.
The company in charge of the project says there are only 59 feet (18 metres) left to dig before completing the last section of the new Gotthard Base Tunnel.
AlpTransit Gotthard AG said Wednesday it plans to break through the final stretch of rock some 8,200 feet (2,500 metres) below the Piz Vatgira peak on Oct. 15.
The 35.4-mile (57-kilometre) tunnel will dramatically speed up railroad connections between northern Europe and Italy when it is opened for traffic in 2017.
It will supplant Japan's 33.46-mile (53.85-kilometre) Seikan Tunnel as the world's longest transportation tunnel.
(This item was distributed Sept. 29, 2010, by the Associated Press.)
The Swiss know no limits in railroad building. Still got all those Swiss Rail Journey's tapes off of PBS a decade or more ago. Still mind blowing to watch.
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If you are in a horror movie, you make bad decisions, its what you do.
