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  The second Gotthard road tunnel tube bundling of infrastructure through the Alps

  The Swiss Federal Roads Office (FEDRO) has just initiated the work on the second 16.9-kilometre motorway tunnel tube through the Gotthard. The project will prove to be another outstanding feat in the Alpine region. It is a contribution to innovative solutions for a sustainable society with the implementation of synergies of the ‘free’ space in the road infrastructure and the first bundling of infrastructure of this scale in Switzerland. A 230-kV transmission line across the Gotthard is reaching the end of its service life. The necessary renovation provides an opportunity to dismantle this overhead line and restore the mountain landscape. The new high voltage line – with a capacity of 380-kV – will be fed into the second service duct beneath the slab track. However, there are several challenges, including the space for installing these cables with a diameter of 15cm and a minimal bending radius of 15m, the electromagnetic tolerance for motorway traffic, and the maintenance staff for both ducts. Specific simulations were needed for calculating the ventilation requirement: the temperature of the cables at the various operating points, combined with the high underground temperature – with seasonal variations – had to be studied in order to define the definitive scenario.

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