Alpine Tunneling Is Swift So Far As Crews Probe For Unstable Rock
Switzerland's intent to force road vehicles onto the railroads will relegate the 1913 Lötschberg Alpine rail tunnel, built with pneumatic drills and hand shovels, to a secondary role. Crews building the 34.8-kilometer route that will supersede it now utilize jumbos and tunnel boring machines. But uncertain, variable geology that led to numerous fatalities on the old tunnel still taunts crews on the new one today.