# Switzerland’s $2BN Tunnel U-Turn ![[images/Switzerlands-2BN-Tunnel-U-Turn.webp]] **Creator:** The B1M · **Published:** 2026-03-18 · **Length:** 17:05 · [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzTntRHmpa8) > Caption source: YouTube English **auto-generated** captions (`en`, json3) downloaded with **yt-dlp** — the video has **no manual caption track** (yt-dlp found no `en`/`en-GB` subtitles, and TubeAlfred `youtube_video_transcript` with kind=manual returned 404 listing only the English auto track; 0 credits charged), so the identical auto track was taken via yt-dlp rather than spending a TubeAlfred credit. Because auto captions garble names, spellings and figures were cross-checked with The B1M's companion article, [Switzerland is Building Another Mountain Mega-Tunnel](https://www.theb1m.com/video/second-gotthard-road-tunnel) (byline **Adam Savage**, 18 March 2026, "Video hosted by Fred Mills"), which follows the narration closely and quotes the interviewees, and with on-screen captions: **Udo Oppliger** — *Project Manager, Swiss Federal Roads Office (ASTRA)* and **Samuel Gilgen** — *Geologist, Marti Gruppe*. The auto captions hear the shear zone as "Gütsch"; the on-screen graphic and the companion name it the **Guspis** fault/shear zone. Figures (A2 Germany–Italy; Gotthard Base Tunnel **57 km**; road tunnel almost **17 km**, Airolo–Göschenen; Gotthard Pass used from the **1400s**, **1.5 h → 15 min**; **7 years** of drill and blast; opened **1980**, world's longest road tunnel for **20 years**, **seventh** today; Federal Council decision **2012**; referendum **four years** later; preparation another **four years** on; completion **2030**; TBMs **Alessandra** (north) and **Paulina** (south), **12 m+** diameter, about **2 years** of boring; Guspis zone **400 m** at **5 km**; TBM launch **February 2025**; Paulina stuck **June 2025** after **<200 m**; freeing due **spring 2026**; extra cost about **CHF 20M**; total just over **CHF 2bn** ≈ **US$2.7bn**; **500 m** zone switched to drill and blast; **three shifts, 7 days**; breakthrough **2027**; trucks ~**4 m** high; lining ~**0.5 m**; spoil ~**7.5 million tonnes** — ¼ concrete, ¼ road surfaces, ½ to **Lake Lucerne** ~**50 km** north; **Article 84**; multi-km queues in **2025**) match the companion, except that the narration converts CHF 20M as "20 million US dollars" while the article says **US$25M**. YouTube chapters used for section headings; they line up with the captions. Screenshots from the 720p stream (format 136). Host **Fred Mills**. **No paid sponsor**: the mid-roll (~4:59–6:43) is Fred announcing his book ***Mega Builds: 10 Colossal Construction Projects That Will Change Our World*** (Penguin Random House, pre-order); the description also promotes The B1M's **Get Construction Talking** mental-health initiative and the **Marti Gruppe** YouTube channel. Additional footage and images: **Swiss Confederation**, **Marti Gruppe**, **ETH Library Zurich**, **Kecko**, **Myoungho Shin**, **Nicola Demaldi**, **Olaf Arndt**, **Snowy Hydro**, **Valentin Luthiger**. ## Outline ### 0:00 Intro - **0:01** One of Europe's most important highways runs right across **Switzerland**, connecting the **German** and **Italian** borders with a clear route through the **Alps** — a journey only possible since the late 20th century, thanks to a tunnel millions rely on every year. - **0:15** Now it is showing its age and has to close for repairs; without a replacement the consequences could be severe, causing chaos across the region. - **0:31** So the Swiss government is building a **second tunnel** with cutting-edge techniques — a project that "simply cannot fail," yet it has hit a big problem that has left a huge piece of equipment "in a sticky situation." ![[images/Switzerlands-2BN-Tunnel-U-Turn-t0003.webp]] ![[images/Switzerlands-2BN-Tunnel-U-Turn-t0040.webp]] ### 0:56 Swiss Infrastructure - **0:56** Driving from **Amsterdam** to **Rome**, your satnav will probably route you through Switzerland and down the **A2** — a hugely important corridor for the whole continent, straight through the middle of the Alps. - **1:18** If it closed, thousands of drivers would have to detour onto already-busy highways or narrow mountain **passes**, some unusable in winter. - **1:33** Luckily the A2 is part of one of the world's most impressive tunnel networks — and not just for cars: the **57 km Gotthard Base Tunnel**, currently the world's longest rail tunnel (until **Lyon–Turin** finishes); the much older **Gotthard (rail) Tunnel**; and the **Gotthard Road Tunnel**, which carries the A2. - **2:05** Why so similar? They all pay homage to **Saint Gotthard**, an 11th-century German bishop. The only one that matters here is the road tunnel. ![[images/Switzerlands-2BN-Tunnel-U-Turn-t0065.webp]] ![[images/Switzerlands-2BN-Tunnel-U-Turn-t0095.webp]] ### 2:15 Gotthard Road Tunnel - **2:20** The road tunnel takes the A2 underground for almost **17 km** between **Airolo** and **Göschenen**, and has done since the '80s. - **2:31** Before that, drivers used the winding **Gotthard Pass**, first used properly in the **1400s**; a typical **1.5-hour** journey over the pass was cut to **15 minutes**. - **2:45** Construction took **seven years**, mainly by conventional **drill and blast** — drill holes, fill with explosives, big bang, clear the rubble, repeat. - **3:05** Completed in **1980**, it was the world's **longest road tunnel** for **20 years**; today it is the **seventh longest**. By the **2010s** the structure needed an overhaul. ![[images/Switzerlands-2BN-Tunnel-U-Turn-t0140.webp]] ![[images/Switzerlands-2BN-Tunnel-U-Turn-t0160.webp]] ![[images/Switzerlands-2BN-Tunnel-U-Turn-t0185.webp]] ### 3:23 Time for Another - **3:20** In **2012** the **Swiss Federal Council** decided to build yet another tunnel — not to boost capacity or replace the old one, but to take over while the current tunnel is upgraded; afterwards both will run side by side. - **3:47** **Udo Oppliger** (ASTRA): the work is for the safety standard and to renovate all the electromechanical parts — "we cannot close the tunnel for three, four years," hence a second tunnel to renovate the first without interrupting traffic. - **4:12** Four years after it was proposed, the Swiss people approved the plan in a **referendum**; four years later preparation work began, with a **2030** completion date. - **4:25** Its name? The **Second Gotthard Road Tunnel** — "which at least makes sense." ![[images/Switzerlands-2BN-Tunnel-U-Turn-t0210.webp]] ![[images/Switzerlands-2BN-Tunnel-U-Turn-t0230.webp]] ![[images/Switzerlands-2BN-Tunnel-U-Turn-t0255.webp]] ### 4:40 Tunnelling Methods - **4:40** Old and new tunnels are the same length because they run in parallel, with the existing **service tunnel / safety gallery** between them, and construction runs from both ends at once, as in the 1970s. - **4:55** But the methods have moved on: most of the work is being done by **tunnel boring machines (TBMs)**. - **~4:59–6:43** (Book announcement — see below.) - **6:43** TBM **Alessandra** digs from the north and **Paulina** from the south, both over **12 m** in diameter; after about **two years** they are due to meet in the middle. ![[images/Switzerlands-2BN-Tunnel-U-Turn-t0285.webp]] ![[images/Switzerlands-2BN-Tunnel-U-Turn-t0320.webp]] ### ~4:59 Mid-roll — Fred's book *Mega Builds* - **~4:59–6:43** In place of a paid sponsor, Fred reveals that **Penguin Random House** asked him to write a book: ***Mega Builds — 10 Colossal Construction Projects That Will Change Our World***, drawn from ten years with "a front-row seat" on the planet's biggest projects — behind the scenes, the teams, the human stories, the engineering in detail and his own calamities along the way. He insists he wrote every word himself (no ghostwriter) and urges viewers to pre-order via the description link. ### 6:45 Complex Geology - **6:50** On the way the TBMs pass through very different ground and major **fault zones** (shear zones) — fractured, weak rock with **squeezing** characteristics — several kilometres in. They won't bore through those: crews temporarily switch back to conventional methods. - **7:20** Contractor **Marti Group** (Marti Gruppe), on the south side, has done this through the **Guspis** shear zone. **Samuel Gilgen**: a known, very large zone — **400 m** of faulted rock at **5 km** — that a TBM of this diameter could not get through without jamming "very often, probably." - **7:45** Drill and blast is slower but safer under high pressure: crews can be precise and immediately stabilise the rock with **anchor bolts** and **shotcrete** (sprayed concrete), an initial lining before waterproofing and more concrete. TBM sections are lined with **precast segments** placed by the machine itself. - **8:15** The main fault-zone sections were among the first excavated, reached via a pair of **access tunnels** dug earlier by smaller TBMs; Gilgen: from there they made a **full-face excavation** through the squeezing ground to secure the whole section. ![[images/Switzerlands-2BN-Tunnel-U-Turn-t0410.webp]] ![[images/Switzerlands-2BN-Tunnel-U-Turn-t0450.webp]] ![[images/Switzerlands-2BN-Tunnel-U-Turn-t0456.webp]] ![[images/Switzerlands-2BN-Tunnel-U-Turn-t0470.webp]] ### 8:13 Getting Prepared - **8:51** Years went into preparing the north and south **portals** for the TBMs — more drilling and blasting — plus the support areas. - **9:03** At **Göschenen** a set of **caverns** was carved out to make concrete for the tunnel lining underground, because there's so little space outside; Oppliger: on the north side the concrete production "is all underground." - **9:35** The more dramatic reason: the area is prone to **avalanches**. Nearby, excavated material is stored temporarily before almost all of it is reused. - **9:55** At **Airolo**, with less avalanche risk and more space, concrete and segment manufacturing happens outdoors. ![[images/Switzerlands-2BN-Tunnel-U-Turn-t0500.webp]] ![[images/Switzerlands-2BN-Tunnel-U-Turn-t0545.webp]] ![[images/Switzerlands-2BN-Tunnel-U-Turn-t0575.webp]] ### 9:58 A False Start - **10:02** By **February 2025** everything was ready and the TBMs set off; for a few months all was well. - **10:10** Then in **June**, **Paulina** — less than **200 m** in — hit serious geological trouble much sooner than expected. She was forced to stop, an absolute last resort, and in stopping became **stuck**. - **10:36** She had hit highly fractured loose rock and **cavities** — ground TBMs hate — and the **tunnel face collapsed**. Gilgen: the **cutterhead is blocked** and the machine's torque can't turn it; it must be freed from the front. - **11:00** Crews are digging an extra **access tunnel** off the existing one into the fault zone to get in front of the TBM and dig back towards it, freeing it in **spring 2026**. - **11:20** Cost: about **CHF 20M** (the narration says ~20 million US dollars; the companion says US$25M) added to an overall cost of just over **CHF 2bn** — about **US$2.7bn**. - **11:35** Months of extra work, but the completion date stands: later tasks brought forward, the **500 m** problem zone now to be dug by drill and blast, and teams working **three shifts, seven days a week**, aiming for the TBMs' rendezvous in **2027**. ![[images/Switzerlands-2BN-Tunnel-U-Turn-t0605.webp]] ![[images/Switzerlands-2BN-Tunnel-U-Turn-t0630.webp]] ### 12:00 Weighing the Risks - **12:05** Did they know about the tricky area — and why not go conventional from the start? A **Swiss Federal Roads Office** press release says the challenging southern geology was predicted and the chosen method carried risks: the zone was more hazardous and positioned slightly differently than thought, despite plentiful geological data from the first tunnel. - **12:45** Oppliger: the big fault zones were easy to locate, but smaller ones are a big problem — it isn't easy to know where they are or how they will affect a TBM. - **13:08** The original tunnel had its complications too, and similar incidents in **India** and **Australia** had worse outcomes. Gilgen: the first tube and safety gallery hit big problems and part had to be rebuilt because of squeezing ground — "you think you know everything about it, there is still surprises." - **13:40** The TBMs won't actually touch at the middle; they'll stop just short and be dismantled and removed. ![[images/Switzerlands-2BN-Tunnel-U-Turn-t0705.webp]] ![[images/Switzerlands-2BN-Tunnel-U-Turn-t0735.webp]] ![[images/Switzerlands-2BN-Tunnel-U-Turn-t0790.webp]] ### 13:51 Other Benefits - **13:55** Why so big? Trucks are only about **4 m** high and the lining adds about **0.5 m**, but space is needed above the road for **ventilation** and below for two **service ducts** — one for tunnel utilities, the other for a **high-voltage power line**, a first in Europe, replacing the pylons now strung over the **Gotthard Pass**. - **14:35** The excavated material — almost **7.5 million tonnes** — is reused: about a quarter in concrete for the project and the old tunnel's restoration, a quarter for road surfaces, and half shipped to **Lake Lucerne**, ~**50 km** north of Göschenen, to create shallow-water habitats for plants and animals. ![[images/Switzerlands-2BN-Tunnel-U-Turn-t0815.webp]] ![[images/Switzerlands-2BN-Tunnel-U-Turn-t0845.webp]] ![[images/Switzerlands-2BN-Tunnel-U-Turn-t0880.webp]] ### 15:00 The Traffic Issue - **15:05** Two tubes won't mean twice the traffic: there will be **one tunnel per direction** — better than today's head-on two-way traffic in one small tube — but still **single file**, with the other lane kept as a **hard shoulder / emergency lane** for safety and reliability. - **15:47** They're not allowed to make it busier: **Article 84** of the **Swiss Federal Constitution** says the capacity of transit routes in the Alpine region may not be increased. So congestion — queues of several kilometres were reported multiple times in **2025** — probably won't go away. - **16:13** Some say it won't make much difference; others that it's about keeping a vital artery of Europe from a standstill — even if the giant machine crucial to it is stuck "for the time being." - **16:33** Oppliger: the Swiss population chose this second tunnel and "we have the responsibility to do it" — he calls it the biggest project now in Switzerland, one the contractors and ASTRA are all proud to work on. Subscribe outro. ![[images/Switzerlands-2BN-Tunnel-U-Turn-t0915.webp]] ![[images/Switzerlands-2BN-Tunnel-U-Turn-t0950.webp]] ![[images/Switzerlands-2BN-Tunnel-U-Turn-t0990.webp]] ## Things mentioned ### Tunnels, roads and structures - **Second Gotthard Road Tunnel** — parallel tube, almost 17 km, Göschenen ↔ Airolo; decided 2012; TBM breakthrough 2027; opening 2030; just over CHF 2bn (~US$2.7bn) - **Gotthard Road Tunnel** (1980) — A2; seven years of drill and blast; world's longest road tunnel for 20 years, seventh today; due for renovation once the second tube opens - **Safety gallery / service tunnel** between the two tubes; twin smaller-TBM **access tunnels** to the fault zones; a new bypass tunnel to free Paulina - **Gotthard Base Tunnel** — 57 km, world's longest rail tunnel; the older **Gotthard (rail) Tunnel**; **Lyon–Turin** base tunnel (will be longer) - **A2** motorway (Germany–Italy across Switzerland); **Gotthard Pass** road (used since the 1400s; 1.5 h vs 15 min); narrow Alpine passes; overhead power line and pylons on the pass ### Machines, methods and engineering terms - TBMs **Alessandra** (north) and **Paulina** (south) — 12 m+ diameter; Paulina stuck in June 2025, freeing due spring 2026 - **Drill and blast**; **anchor bolts**; **shotcrete**; waterproofing and cast concrete lining; TBM **precast segments** - **Fault / shear zones**, **squeezing ground**; **Guspis** fault zone (400 m at ~5 km); 500 m problem zone; **full-face excavation**; cutterhead, torque, face collapse - Underground concrete caverns (Göschenen); outdoor segment plant (Airolo); ventilation space; utility duct; **high-voltage line** duct (European first) - Spoil reuse: ~7.5 million t — ¼ concrete, ¼ road surfaces, ½ shallow-water habitat in Lake Lucerne ### Places - **Switzerland**, the **Alps**; portals at **Göschenen** (north, Uri) and **Airolo** (south, Ticino); **Lake Lucerne** (~50 km north) - **Germany**, **Italy**; route example **Amsterdam → Rome**; **Lyon** and **Turin**; **India** and **Australia** (tunnelling problems elsewhere) ### Institutions, laws and events - **Swiss Federal Council** (2012 decision); **Swiss Confederation**; **Swiss Federal Roads Office (ASTRA / FEDRO)** and its press release on the geology - National **referendum** approving the second tube (four years after the proposal) - **Article 84, Swiss Federal Constitution** — Alpine transit capacity may not be increased - Timeline: 1400s pass → 1970s build → 1980 opening → 2012 decision → referendum → preparation → Feb 2025 TBM launch → June 2025 Paulina stuck → spring 2026 freeing → 2027 breakthrough → 2030 completion; multi-km queues in 2025 ### Organisations, media and promotions - The B1M / **Fred Mills** (host); **Adam Savage** (companion byline) - **Marti Gruppe** (Marti Group, south-side contractor) and its YouTube channel - ***Mega Builds*** — Fred Mills (Penguin Random House; pre-order); **Get Construction Talking** - Footage: **Swiss Confederation**, **Marti Gruppe**, **ETH Library Zurich**, **Kecko**, **Myoungho Shin**, **Nicola Demaldi**, **Olaf Arndt**, **Snowy Hydro**, **Valentin Luthiger** ### Figures and facts - Road tunnel almost 17 km; base tunnel 57 km; 15 min vs 1.5 h over the pass; built in 7 years - TBMs 12 m+; trucks ~4 m; lining ~0.5 m; Paulina <200 m when stuck - Guspis zone 400 m at 5 km; 500 m zone switched to drill and blast; three shifts, 7 days a week - About CHF 20M extra (US$20M in the narration, US$25M in the companion); total just over CHF 2bn ≈ US$2.7bn - Spoil ~7.5 million t; Lake Lucerne ~50 km from Göschenen ## Biographies ### Fred Mills Co-founder and on-camera host of **The B1M**. He walks through the Gotthard tunnel family, the second tube's methods and Paulina's June 2025 jam, and uses the mid-roll to announce his first book, ***Mega Builds*** (Penguin Random House), joking that his "entire future happiness" depends on pre-orders and that he wrote every word himself. ### Udo Oppliger **Project Manager, Swiss Federal Roads Office (ASTRA)** (on-screen caption). He explains that the old tunnel needs safety and electromechanical renovation and can't close for three or four years, describes the underground concrete production at Göschenen, admits smaller fault zones are hard to locate, and calls the second tube the biggest project now in Switzerland — one the Swiss people chose and ASTRA is responsible for delivering. ### Samuel Gilgen **Geologist, Marti Gruppe** (on-screen caption), the contractor on the south side. He describes the 400 m Guspis shear zone at 5 km that a 12 m TBM couldn't cross, the full-face conventional excavation from access tunnels, Paulina's blocked cutterhead and the plan to free it from the front, and recalls that the first tube and safety gallery also had to be partly rebuilt because of squeezing ground. ### Saint Gotthard The 11th-century German bishop (Godehard of Hildesheim) whose name the pass and all three Gotthard tunnels carry; the video mentions him only to explain why the tunnel names sound so alike. ### Adam Savage (The B1M) Byline on The B1M companion article *[Switzerland is Building Another Mountain Mega-Tunnel](https://www.theb1m.com/video/second-gotthard-road-tunnel)* (18 March 2026, "Video hosted by Fred Mills"), which follows the narration closely and gives the full Oppliger and Gilgen quotes, the Guspis shear-zone name and the US$25M conversion of the CHF 20M overrun.