Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1906-03-09
Buy Hair
|QtAucHon?
GREAT TEST OF ENGINEERING.
simplon Tunnel Twelve and a Half
Miles Lona-Lives Lost in Work.

MiieS Lcnq-LNeS LOST IN WORK
The joining of the two ends of
Simplon tunnel marked the compile
ton OF one of the greatest engineer
Ing feats of the time. The boring OF
tunnel 1914 miles long is in itself a
large undertaking, but the engineers
in charge OF this work have had to
Contend with many extremely diff
cult problems, among the worst be-
ing the springs of hot water. which
finally became so troublesome as 10
necessitate the abandonment OF one
end Of the work. Now the tunnel is
complete; in few months trains viii
lie running through it, and most i'm
portGnt link furnished in the line Of
communication between Italy and
Central Europe
The Simplon tunnel pierces Mont
Leone, in the Alps, making a straight
line from Brig, in Switzerland, TO
Iselle, in Italy. The boring was car
ried on from both sides of the noun
tain, the work beginning in August,
1888. The work consists of two tun-
nels, main and an auxiliary, paral-
lei, with 80 feet from axis to axis, and
ct one point the borings are one and
a half miles below the surface, 80
that great heat had TO be contended
with. The tunnels are heavily arcned
from end TO end, 10 prevent the block
Ing of the way by fragments of rock.
From the Swiss Side the borings rise
at a grade of one metre in 500, and
from the Italian side l in 143. The
summit is 9.572 kilometres from the
Swiss portal and 10.197 from the Ital-
ian end. BY last November the main
Swiss boring was carried oYeh the
summit, and when it had reached
point about 500 yards from the Italian
end it had to be stopped because Of
the difficulty encountered in the
springs of hot water.
The Swiss boring was carried to
the summit without much trouble, as
the grade naturally carried off the
filtration Of water, which amounted TO
over 200 gallons minute. When the
turn was made the trouble began. In
a distance of 1000 yards between the
summit and the face of the boring,
khe inflow of water was 1908 gallons
per minute, and with the water
brought in artificially for refrigerat-
ing, rock boring and other appliances
me inflow was 1872 gallons a minute,
which had. of course, to be carried
Gff by pumps Then, in the last COO
feet of the main Swiss bore, thirteen
springs of hot water were encoun.
tered, varying in temperature from
los degrees to III. In the Italian
heading there was a grade to carry
away the water and no hot springs
we're being encountered, though the
men worked in waterproofs, knee
deep in water, with cascades playing
over them. The Swiss had hard
problem. The hot rock and water
made the temperature unbearable for
the workers. It was necessary to cool
the water issuing from the hot springs
by playing Jets of cold water into
them, and also to keep up contin-
u1l spraying of the hot rocks This
water had to be piped into the tun-
mel great distance to the workings,
and to keep it cool the pipes had to
re covered with broken charcoal and
Cased in sheet metal AS the face OF
tho heading was carried on, the prob
lem of getting cold water became
more difficult, and naturally there
came timc when the capacity of the
boring became insufficient for the pip
ing needed TO carry on the work. Last
May the engineers in the Swiss bor-
ina opened two hot springs yielding
$50 gallons a minute At the same
time an Alpine storm and landslide
cat off the water supply at the en-
trance. The Swiss boring was stopped
after heavy iron gates had been erect
cd at the lowest point of the work on
the italian slope TO confine the water
end protect the tunnels approaching
from Iselle
The Italian borings having the ad-
vantage of gravitational drainage
continued rapidly without special diff
Guilty until they reached last fall a
point about 300 yards from the aban-
doned Swiss workings Here the hot
springs were encountered. The first
If these discharged 900 gallons
minute and had a temperature of ia
Cegrees. The drainage problem was
got so difficult as in the last part Of
mo Swiss work but the same system
81 cooling the rock. water and air had
- b. introduced and consequently.
lie boring proceeded very slowly.
When thin diaphragm of rock re-
NAMED between the two main tun-
nels. the sreat volume of hot water
which hsd accumulated in the aban.
Honed Swiss workings between the
dmmit and the italian Roadway was
trained off and the mountain was
pierced The dispatches show that
ihe last blast that Joined the two was
followed by rush of hot water in
which several worlImen lost their