One of Europe's Longest Tunnels to Close Nights for Maintenance as Slab Cracks

One of Europe's longest tunnels, the Gotthard Road Tunnel in Switzerland, will undergo essential nighttime maintenance, leading to closures from Monday to Thursday between 11 PM and 5 AM. Weekend nights, from Friday to Monday, will see the tunnel remain fully operational.

The closures are necessary for conservation work designed to enhance the safety of the structure. According to swissinfo.ch, workers will create special expansion joints to limit stress accumulation in the tunnel's intermediate slab. This measure aims to relieve the structure and mitigate the risk of future damage. The condition of the slab is continuously monitored by a measurement system that tracks stress changes.

This maintenance follows a significant incident in 2023 when a crack appeared in the tunnel's intermediate slab near the northern portal. Fragments of concrete detached from the structure and fell onto the roadway. Specialists suggested that rock movements might have caused the damage.

Opened in 1980, the 16.9-kilometer Gotthard Tunnel is a vital transit route through the Alps, connecting Göschenen in the northern canton of Uri with Airolo in the southern canton of Ticino. The current maintenance is crucial to ensure the long-term integrity and safety of this critical transportation artery.

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The work will involve creating special expansion joints to limit stress accumulation in the tunnel's intermediate slab. This will relieve the structure and reduce the risk of further damage.