Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1904-12-06
THE GREAT sInPLoN TUNNEL
Engineers Have Met With Seemingly
!nsurmountabIe Obstacles.


lnsurmountsbIe Obstacles.
The outlook for completing the Sim
plon tunnel in Switzerland, one Of the
wonders Of the world, has recently be-
come gloomy. After piercing gigan-
tic tube through the rock heart Of the
mighty Alps for a distance Of about
twelve miles, work has practically
come to standstill, owing to the tap
ping Of spring Of hot water. Only a
few hundred yards remained to be
bored and the entire undertaking was
expected to he completed by next April.
The pumps are unable to cope with the
flow, and even II the engineers can
overcome this difficulty It is feared
that In the very center Of the noun
tain is a great and insurmotntable
molten mass which will bar further
progress.
The dangers and difficulties Of the
Simplon have been stupendous, and
many lives have been lost since the
commencement Of the work. which at
the outset was declared by more than
one expert to be an impossible task.
Accidents Of all kinds have happened
to delay the progress Of the work.
On many occasions vast underground
lakes have been Unexpectedly tapped
and broken in upon, and in few mo-
ments the flooded workings have be-
come a scene Of terror and destruction.
A seething, ever-increasing torrent OF
sometimes cold, but more often Of al
most boiling water has swept all before
It. dashing the terrified workmen like
corks against rocks, drowning and
crippling them.s
The intense heat In the tunnel has
from the commencement been e. source
Of discomfort and even danger. and
the sudden rises Of temperature have
more than once completely overcome
whole gangs Of workmen who have
been rescued and removed to the
mouth Of the great shaft in a fainting,
half -suffocated condition.
The Simplon tunnel, the work on
which was begun six years ago. and on
which 10000 men have been engaged,
will, IL ever completed, be the longest
in the world. The reason for It's great
length is that its course is at a far
lower altitude above sea level than
that Of other Alpine tunnels. 1t is to
be twelve and one-half miles long, and
Is 2,310 feet above sea level.
The work Of piercing was commence
ed at Brigue on the Swiss side and at
Iselle on the italian side, simultane-
ously. All the miners are Italians. 1t
was thought that the mountain was
composed Of vertical strata, but norl-
zontal beds were met instead.
The rapidity with which the Sim
plon has been constructed may be bet
ter judged by comparing the time TAX
en- in excavating the two other great
Alpine tunnels-the st. Gothard and
the Mont Cents. When the Mont Ce-
mis- tunnel, (seven and half miles)
was commenced in 1859 the engineers
expected to take twenty years to COM
plete their task. Rock perforators had
not then been invented and the work
was done by manual labor alone
While the tunnel was thus being slow
ly and laboriously hewn by hand
through the rocks the first machine
drills and perforators were invented,
and with their help the work was COM
pleted in twelve years. The more
modern st. cGothard tunnel (nine and
half miles long) was com 'leted In
eight years.
One Of the greatest difficulties attend
ing the work in the Simplon Is the ne
cessity for obtaining continual supply
Of pure, cool air in the tunnel so that
the workmen shall not suffocate from
the foul heated atmosphere. The heat
In the workings Is intense, and would
at times have exceeded $50 degrees
Fahrenheit had not the cooling and
ventilating arrangements been so
good.
To meet the difficulty Of supplying
current Of cool air Swiss engineer
NJ. Hirsel- -Gisy-invented a special wa
ter cooling spray system. BY his plan
Icy cold water, brought at high press
ure in pipes to the head Of the work.
ings, Is diffused at the rate Of 1000