2006: THE YEAR OF THE FIRST BREAKTHROUGHS.
In June and October 2006 the construction teams in the north celebrated the end of tunnelling in the Amsteg – Sedrun section with a spectacular performance. The machines sped towards the end of the construction lot six and nine months ahead of schedule, respectively. But it all ended with an anticlimax. Just before the end of the lot they met with a geological obstacle – kakirite. This is why the TBMs were dismantled in advance in the solid rock zone. The workers then transported the machine components out of the tunnel with the tunnel train.
Breakthrough in Faido.
In fall 2006, breakthrough was finally made in the south, too, with the required precision at the Faido multifunctional station. The TBMs with diameters of more than eight meters reached their targets after 13.5 and 14 km respectively, with vertical and horizontal deviations of only a few centimeters. This degree of accuracy is comparable to a marksman hitting a 1 euro coin at a distance of two kilometers. After a total overhaul and a refit with new, larger cutterheads with diameters in excess of nine meters, Sissi and Heidi set off again in July and October 2007, tunnelling northwards from Faido towards Sedrun.
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