120 meters long concrete plant inside the Gotthard Road Tunnel
The Gotthard Road Tunnel, one of the most important Alpine crossings and main connection between the region of Central Switzerland and Ticino, gets a second tunnel tube.
On behalf of the Swiss Federal Roads Office (ASTRA), the „secondo tubo“ joint venture – consisting of Impenia and Frutiger – is currently building the second tube of the approx. 17km long road tunnel. KIBAG, the company responsible for the production of concrete, awarded a contract for the northern concrete plant near Göschenen to Simem Group, which delivered and installed this very special concrete production plant during the last few years.
The plant with a length of 120 m was erected under the most cramped conditions in the tunnel and is producing both concrete for tunnel segments and shotcretes. The core component comprises two Simem 3.3 m³ twin-shaft mixers which are fed by two skip conveyors.
Aggregates and cement are delivered by train, received at a discharge terminal outside the tunnel and are carried by a 300 meters long belt conveyor to the concrete plant. The cement is blown in by means of a compressor station along the same length.
Producing 550,000 m³ of concrete
The construction site in the village of Göschenen is situated in the region of Central Switzerland more than 1,000 m above sea level. In winter months, a lot of snow has to be expected here, therefore, the storage capacity for aggregates and cement was generously dimensioned. 2,400 m³ of aggregates, added by 960 m³ of pea gravel and 870 m³ of cement or fly ash can be stored in the mountain.
Whereas the tunnel for the concrete batching plant had to be blasted especially, the segment production is situated in an existing cavern, which was erected for military purposes. A truck mixer is used to transport the concrete from the concrete plant to the production cavern. The washing station including Simem chamber filter press and pH neutralization is located right next to the batching plant – underground as well.
The plant has been producing concrete since the summer of 2024. At present, the tunnel boring machine is being assembled and first traffic is scheduled to pass the tunnel in 2030. Until then, 550,000 m³ of concrete will yet be produced.
