The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1900-02-25
on SYMPTOM TUNNEL.
II Will Be the Longest in the
World, and a Sixth Of II
Has Been Driven.
oNeEsr of all tunnels in the world

oNGEsr OF all tunnels in the world
" win be the 9impIon tunnel. work on
which began little more than
- year ago. Tho most serious obstacle
encountered 50 far IL the death of the en-
gineer, Mr.. Brandt His services were ex-
tremely valuable to the project. a. he de-
vised the special drilling machinery, and
novel device for ventiisting the interior
Of the long course. The work had been
going on a year when he died. The con-
tract calls for It's completion In fiye and
one-haif years. and the price to be paid IN
si3tis.sno IL will be i2+ miles long and
will be the third tunnel connecting italy
with outlying countries by direct rail- 1t
will save ass miles, or from TO per
cent on travel from Paris TO Milan. as
compared with the Mount Cents or 81.
Gothard tunnel The Mount Cents tunnel
has a length of eight miles and the ST.
Gothard length of IS miles.
When In tho ifties the wonderful project
of drilling the Mount Cents tunnel was
undertaken. fathered by tho italian min
lister OF state. Cnvour, no machines for
drilling were In existence. and II cal
culated that twenty years would be neces-
sary for every IL miles OF tunnel drilled.
Then tho engineer In charge OF the work
Sommelliaf constructed the first drilling
machine: and. although crude. II was sat
isfactory enough To do ten times the work
TO finish the tunnel In eleven years. The
st. Gothard tunnel was finished In eight
or nine years.
The simpion tunnel begins In switxer-
land. near the little town OF Brig. In the
valley OF the Rhone. Canton Wallis, and
ends In the valley OF the Diveria. on the
Italian side near Isella II viii Re per
fectly straight except for a small curve
at the ingrsss and egress. The contract
provides for a fine OF ss-S day II the time
limit IL exceeded while sratuity Of the
same amount Is 10 be given IL Il is I'm.
tshed before the stipulated period. A little
computation win show how disastrous
strikes will DO, Already there has been
a strike of ten days.
The fundamental principle Of tunnelinE
always has been to drive the hole. exca-
yste ana follow Il W with the finishing
masonry, making provision. % course
for ventilation. which usually IL sufficient
at nrst, bat which nearly fails whom the
work gets along toward the center, when
the incoming fresh afr mixes with the
aatgolug gases The method Of Mr. Brandt
Is 10 drive two holes parallel within the
radius OF the excavations. leaving a divid-
ms Line. one hole being eNcayAted about
ga feet IN advance of the other These
are butls for a single track. ans later the
dividing wall can be broken through for
double tracks II necessary. At distances
Of about ea@ feet transverse connections
between the tunnels are made through the
dividing wRf, ana are provided with doors
To obtain sufficieut ventilation powerful
air blasts are blown into Que side of Tho
tunnel which return throuGh thc other
side az the divide. ami thereby coniuct
outward al foul sir and bad gases When
the air IN the Interior increases tn heat
Il Is cooked 0y showers % cold water. which
has been led from the exterior Of the
mountain under high pressure Through
practical experiments IN the mines OF
Spain. Brandt proved that air at isl de-
kraeS Fahrenheit BY this means can ha
reduced to 50 degrees, These streams also
furnish I.ooo horse power for driving drills.
The miners, therefore. always work Ia an
ARTIFICIAL atmosphere Of cool. fresh air.
Mi Rran3ts drilling invention : a by
aruulgc rotary machine. by which Il IL
h,sped 70 com piete the tunnel Ia less than
contract time. II Il used siugly and IN
battery form Prominent enstneers come
from far and near 70 examine this power
ful mechanism
Another 81 Mr.. Brandt's inventions is a
machine for ieoseulnE and removing the
debris after the explosions and blasts II
throws = powerful stream ~ water IN
ierky manner into the stones l0oscned by
the forge OF the blasts, thereby washing
away tho d.rt This makes excavation
castor These machines run on rats. and
when TN asc follow one another in rota-
ton,