The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1898-10-21
THE ALPINE TUNNELS.
New One to supersede the simplon and
Mont Gents.
(From the Paris Massonoo,,

" AOlii tlA6 MeSSenPer
All the visitors to Italy, passing
through Switzerland. have seen with
wonder and delight the ST. Gothard
railway which extends from Lucerne
to Chiasso. Traversing, as it does. the
Alps in its passage, and embracing
nearly 100 tunnels of which that at the
summit is nine and a half miles in
length, it has justly been considered
one OF the greatest of engineering feats
IN the world. AS it forms the direct line
OF communication between Italy nd
Germany, its traffic has not only grown
TO very large proportions, but the re-
turn to the shareholders is equally
large and satisfactory The other great
tunnel through the Alps. which was
constructed at an earlier date is he
Mont Cents. This tunnel, at an aiti
tude or 4247 feet above the sea, is near
~ eight miles in length, and was also
IA lis DAY, considered a marvellous I'M
dertaking, but, unfortunately, although
most solidly constructed and capable
OF carrying large traffic, 1t is, owing
10 the war of tariffs existing betWeea
France and Italy, but little used.
But now a third tunnel-that under
the Symptoms not only proposed, but
its construction has already commence
ed. This railway WIFI form the most di-
rect communication between Berne.
Lausanne and Geneva to Domo d'Asso-
la, Milan, and the north of Italy. and
It has the great advantag e of being on
a low level. While the altitude of the
st. Gothard is 1888 feet above the sea.
and that Of the Mont Cents is 4247 feet,
the Simplon is only 1912 feet In other
words, the heavy traffic will pass
through the Alps at lower level. by
some 1477 feet, than in the case of the
st. Gothard. Another great advantage
it will possess is that the approach on
the Swiss side will be of the simplest
character. The Jura-Simplon railway
has its terminus at Brieg in the Rhone
valley, and the tunnel mouth will be
on the present level Of and at a short
distance from, the end of the existing
sidings of Brieg station. The length
of the tunnel will be twelve and a half
| miles, the italian end being at Iselie
The maximum gradient will be l in 140,
and the work will consist Of two paral-
| lei tunnels-each for one pair of rails
at a distance apart of about 50 feet
| This tunnel has been proposed for
| some years, but it was for a long time
| considered impracticable. The great
advance within the last few years of
engineering science has, however. con-
WINGED thinking men not only that it is
feasible, but that it will possess very
considerable advantages over the other
| tunnels. The profitable results of the
st. Gothard no doubt stimulated its
promoters to proceed, and the greatest
railway company of Switzerland-the
Jura -Simplon Company has taken the
matter in hand. Many and great were
the objections raised by its opponents,
and the Swiss government wisely de-
cided that, before committing them
selves in any way to its execution, they
would obtain the opinions of a com
| mission Of experts on tunnel construc-
| ton and ventilation. They had already
the reports of their own able and eX-
| perienced engineers, but they decided to
seek advice from sources which would
be absolutely disinterested and impair
| tial. They applied to the government
of England, Italy and Austria to nom
| mate an engineer, one from each ccun-
try. Mr. Giuseppe Colombo, member
of the Italian parliament, for some time
minister of the treasury of Milan, was
chosen by that country Mr.. Francis
Fox, member of the Institution of Civil
Engineers, was nominated by the board
of trade, while Herr Wagner, one of
the government inspectors, and also an
engineer of the Great Arlberg tunnel,
was the Austrian representative. These
three gentlemen sat in Berne for two
or three weeks, and, having visited the
site and route Of the proposed tunnel
and railway, presented report unani-
mously indorsing the views Of the Jura-
Simplon Railway Company and their
able advisers.