Gotthard Tunnel: 2 Milliarden für Nichts?

Gotthard Tunnel: You're stuck in traffic in front of the famous north portal, the heat shimmering above the asphalt, and you're wondering: "Why is Switzerland building a gigantic second tunnel for over 2 billion francs if, in the end, no more cars will be allowed to drive through it?" The answer lies in safety and extreme engineering deep beneath the Alps. In this documentary, we take a completely new look at the gigantic underground projects of the Swiss Alps. We follow the standstill of a massive tunnel boring machine in 2026 and visualize why a single hairline crack in a freight train wheel could paralyze the longest railway tunnel in the world for an entire year. This video sheds light on the extreme geological and political hurdles at the Gotthard. We show how Swiss miners are battling crumbling fault zones, why a state-of-the-art railway safety system is failing due to European maintenance deficiencies, and why Germany is having a massively negative impact on the multi-billion-euro project in the south through its sluggish construction policies on the Rhine Valley Railway. Note: This analysis is based on current construction updates from the Federal Roads Office (ASTRA), official accident reports from the Swiss authorities, and geological surveys. It offers an in-depth look at the most dangerous bottleneck on this European transport corridor. ➡️ Many thanks to the Swiss Federal Roads Office (ASTRA), which, through direct exchange and the provision of its footage, gave us a comprehensive insight into the construction work. ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ What you'll learn 1️⃣ The 2-billion-franc paradox More tunnel, but no more space? We explain the political deal from 2016: Why the second, 16.9-kilometer-long tube serves exclusively for safety (i.e., emergency lanes, no oncoming traffic) and the renovation of the existing tunnel. 2️⃣ Trapped in the Mountain: The Miners' Battle The Gotthard isn't just made of solid granite. Learn how the dreaded "Tremola Fault Zone," with its clayey consistency, paralyzed the tunnel boring machine "Paulina" at 192 meters of tunnel in June 2025, and how engineers freed it again in May 2026 using cement injections and a 250-meter-long emergency tunnel. 3️⃣ The Million-Dollar Crash in the Base Tunnel To mark the 10th anniversary of the Gotthard Base Tunnel, we look back at August 10, 2023. We analyze step by step how a thermally overloaded wheel on a freight train broke, tearing the train apart at a switch near Faido and paralyzing the highly complex tunnel for an entire year. 3️⃣ ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ Key questions we answer • Why was the tunnel boring machine "Paulina" idle deep inside the mountain for almost a year? • How will the new road tunnel be built? • Why is Germany hindering the Swiss high-performance system? ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ Sources and scientific data • ASTRA (Federal Roads Office): Construction progress and geological reports on the second Gotthard tunnel (as of 2026). ASTRA (Federal Roads Office): Construction progress and geological reports on the second Gotthard tunnel (as of 2026). • SUST (Swiss Transportation Safety Investigation Board): Final report on the derailment in the Gotthard Base Tunnel (August 2023). • SBB (Swiss Federal Railways): Repair work and the Gotthard Base Tunnel anniversary in 2026. • BMDV (Germany): Needs assessment and status report for the expansion of the Rhine Valley Railway (Karlsruhe–Basel). • Geotechnical analyses of the Tremola fault zone in the Gotthard Massif. References: https://victorious-cross-69c.notion.s... ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ Video Chapters 00:00 – Intro: Traffic jams, heat, and the Swiss billion-dollar paradox 00:37 – The construction of the Gotthard Tunnel 01:47 – Why more cars aren't allowed 02:37 – Drilling: How "Jumbos" remove rock with extreme precision 03:46 – Danger: Drill Paulina gets stuck 06:38 – How a broken wheel caused 150 million in damage causes 08:07 – Germany's embarrassment: The endless wait for the Rhine Valley Railway #gotthard #gotthardtunnel #megastructures #switzerland #tunnelconstruction #engineering #2026 #basetunnel #infrastructure #alps #deutschebahn #sbb #technology #documentary #construction site