INSIGHT | CONCRETE TRANSPORT & LOGISTICS
LOGISTICAL CHALLENGE AT GOTTHARD
Concrete production for part of the second tube of the Gotthard Road Tunnel, in Switzerland, is overcoming the logistical challenges of steep terrain at the
north end of the project by housing the large-scale plant in dedicated tunnels and caverns, explains Peter Germann, Managing Partner of Simem Deutschland GmbH
The Swiss Federal Roads Office (Fedro) is responsible for Switzerland’s road infrastructure and private road transport. It is the client for the massive construction project underway to add a second main tunnel to the existing Gotthard Road Tunnel. Belonging to the Swiss Federal Department of the
Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications, Fedro focuses on securing sustainable and safe mobility on the country’s roads. The Gotthard Road Tunnel 2nd Tube Project is a key project for the organisation and country. The current tunnel, which connects the German-
speaking canton (Swiss province) Uri and the Italian- speaking canton Ticino (Tessin), has only one main tube. At 16.9km in length, the tunnel was built in the 1980s. It is the longest road tunnel in the Alps and the fourth longest road tunnel in the world. There is also an existing service and infrastructure tunnel (SISto). The Gotthard Road Tunnel is one of the main North-
to-South Alpine crossings, connecting the northern part of Europe with southern Switzerland and Italy. A conservative average puts the traffic using the vital underground mountain tunnel at about 18,000 – 20,000 vehicles per day, and it is especially busy during Summer, when many Germans, Dutch, Belgians and Swiss travel to Italy for vacation. Then, there can be ‘normal’ waiting times of several hours to pass the tunnel. More capacity and improvements are needed at
Above: Cement silos (4.6m) in tunnels IMAGES COURTESY OF SIMEM, UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED 24 | November 2025
Gotthard Road Tunnel. But given the tunnel’s importance and high volume of use, a complete closure for a long period was never considered an option for Fedro. This, and the enhanced safety that comes with a second main tube, are the main reasons for this major construction project. Even though the tunnel will have only one lane per direction, it will be equipped with a continuous hard shoulder for increased safety. The roadway as well as the hard shoulders will have a width of 4m each, allowing traffic in both directions if needed. After the new tunnel (Second Tube, or ‘secondo tubo’) is completed and brought into service, which
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