The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1904-09-14
The New Sin1plon Tunnel.

sS0 aSSVs OssAH
The New York Tribune says that
the completion of the new Simplon
tunnel is one of the greatest engineer
ing feats in modern times. This makes
the fourth time the Alps have been
pierced, the. t1nnels, in 3the order OF
length, being the Mont Cenis, thirty
wards short Of three miles :the Arlberg.
six miles and 404 yards: the St. Got
Eard, nine miles and 56A yards. and
the latest and longest Of them all. the
mammoth bore OF the Simplon,
twelve miles and 456 yards in length.
- - g Active work on the Simplon was
begun in August, 1898, the enter
prise being a joint one between the
Swiss and italian governments, and
the contract calling for the compile
tion OF the tunnel by May 15, 1904.
Work was begun on both sides OF the
mountain. and the engineers calcnla-
ted SO we'll that when the miners from
Switzerland, on the descending grade,
met those from Italy, on the ascend
ing grade, the borings disclosed an
error of only a few feet. to remedy
which slight curve in the line WIS
made necessary. While this result
seems wonderful enough to those I'M
familiar with engineering, the engin-
eers themselves expected divergence
of only few inches, and hence are
NOT boas5ing over the result, satisfac-
tory as it is. While the passing
through of construction train marks
the end of the miners work, the tun-
mel itself viii probably not be ready
for traffic for many months yet as
nearly all the approaches are still to
be built and the first train-load of
traffic between the valley Of the Rhone
and that Of the Divvia may not pass
through till next summer.
ssThe road runs due north and south
from BrigBe on the Swiss erontie. to
Iselle on the. Italian and may be de-
scribed as the string of the bow OF
which Napoleon's great road over the
Simplon, built in 1801-05, constl-
tutes the arc. The latter from Brigne
to Dome d'Ossola, is fcrty-one miles.
in length, reaches an altitude OF 6, $50
feet, and as an engineering feat is
worthy monument of the conqueror
who willed that there should be no
more Alps. The route the tunnel
takes lies northeast of the Simplon
road, and could have been made much
shorter by beginning at higher altl-
fude. This, however, would have ln-
volved steep approaches, and experience
with the three other Alpine tunnels
has demonstrated that the cost Of haul
age up steep gradients nullifes the In
itial adyantge Of the shorter tunnel.
This is not the only point IN which the
engineers learned from previous eXpe-
rience in tnrneling the Alps with the
result thst the longest and greatest OF
Alpine tunnels was finished IN much
shorter time, considering its length,
chan any OF the three other roads
through the mountains.
While the strata through which
the road was driven consisted princl-
pally OF gneiss and sehist, the Brandt
hydraulic rotating drill. the most per-
feet instrument ever devised for tun-
neling through hard rocks. more than
met every expectation, The power
was supplied by the Rhone and the
Diyeria, and, while this result was
not contemplated when the road was
begun, it is exceedingly probable that
these rivers viii yetfurnish the cleo
Gric power for the running of the
trains. Yarious unexpected difficult
les were met in the prosecution of the
work, such as the gushing forth Of
torrents of hot water, owing to the
great depth below the surface. The
depth of the axis averages 8, 740 feet,
and in one place it reaches the great
depth of 1000 feet. Yet by means Of
sprays of glacial water recorded tenn
perature of 121 degrees Fahrenheit was
cooled to maximum Of II degrees,
while the use of great fans exhausted
impure air and at the same time sup
piled fresh air fer the miners.
As.to the advantages of the new
Simplon tunael, they are many. In
the first place, it comes opportunely
at time of approacbment between
Italy and France, and will bring back
to the latter much Of the traffic lost to
it by the opening of the st. Gothard.
Correspondingly, German railway in
terests will suffer, but as compensa-
ton Genoa will now probably increase
at the expense OF its old rival, Mar
settles. in Swiss imports. A consider
able saving of distance will also be
effected between the straits OF Dover
and the Adriatic, and the new route
will probably be chosen for mail be-
tween Calais and Brindisi. Traffic