Axenstrasse

The Axenstrasse below the Fronalpstock

Rockfall protection gallery

In many areas the road was laid in tunnels. The old course is used as a bike and hiking trail.

An original part of the Axenstrasse. Today the part runs in a tunnel.

The Axenstrasse on Hauptstrasse 2 connects the Swiss villages of Brunnen and Flüelen along the eastern shore of Lake Uri , the southern section of Lake Lucerne . It leads through the village of Sisikon in the canton of Uri .

The building got its name because it runs along the Axen (also Axenberg), the side of the Rophaien pre-Alpine mountain facing Lake Uri . The two-lane main road is part of the Swiss national road network 3rd class, bears the number N4 and is connected to the A4 at both ends . Large parts of the road lead through tunnels or rockfall galleries .

The double-track Gotthard Railway , which belongs to the Swiss Federal Railways , runs parallel to the road . In Altdorf UR the main road branches into the Klausenpassstrasse and the Gotthardstrasse, which follows the Urner Reuss valley.

history

The road could only be built in 1861 after sufficient outside capital had been collected for the company and the Swiss military, headed by Guillaume-Henri Dufour , had spoken out in favor of the construction. Previously, all people and goods had to be loaded onto ships for traffic over the Gotthard Pass on this section. There were only arduous mule tracks along the lake. The road was blasted into the mountain by mostly Italian and Austrian construction workers with black powder. The workers built tunnels, bridges and galleries. The Sisikon – Flüelen section was opened in 1864, the Sisikon – Brunnen section in 1865. The Axenstrasse was the last section of the road that was still missing to get from Milan to Zurich. Since then, the road has been repeatedly expanded and laid in tunnels.

The Uri engineer, Landammann and Councilor of States Karl Emanuel Müller (1804–1869) is considered to be the actual builder of this road construction project . He drafted the plans and worked for the implementation of the project for years. The costs amounted to 842,000 francs. 50% of this was borne by the state, which was founded only 13 years earlier. The canton of Uri had to pay 299,000 francs, the canton Schwyz 122,000 francs. The expansion and maintenance of the road was very expensive. Over the past 60 years, over 300 million Swiss francs have been spent on expanding, maintaining and securing Axenstrasse from falling rocks and avalanches. The federal government bore the costs. For example, the road that was originally planned for horse-drawn vehicles was paved and expanded in the 1930s so that automobiles could use the road. From 1975 to 1990 the road was comprehensively secured and modernized.

As early as 1880, the Gotthard Post was carrying more than 61,000 travelers over the Axenstrasse, the Uri valley floor and over the pass. Axenstrasse was subject to tolls until 1928.

Rock masses, from time to time also avalanches , crash onto the Axenstrasse. In the mid-1980s, the road was interrupted for several months after a large rock fall , so that Sisikon was only connected to the rest of the canton of Uri by rail or ship . At the beginning of the 1990s, a rock outcrop threatened to fall onto the road on the Schwyz section. At the beginning of February 1992 workers had discovered a new crevice above the Axenstrasse on the Mount of Olives north of Sisikon. The street had to be closed. On April 10, 1992 the rock was blown up with 4,700 kilograms of gelatin explosives. The avalanche gallery on the street was badly damaged and buried. The rock fell in splinters into Lake Uri. A feared tidal wave did not materialize. The demolition was broadcast live on Swiss television and attracted numerous onlookers from home and abroad. The street had to be closed for several months in order to rebuild the gallery.

Another blast took place on July 21, 2008 in the Axenrüti area between Sisikon and the Tellsplatte after a large new crevice had been discovered. 30 boreholes had to be filled with 450 kilograms of explosives. 3,000 to 4,000 tons of rock thundered down the slope and came to a standstill after about 600 meters in the Gumpisch Valley. Not a single chunk reached the road, the railway line or the lake. The road was able to reopen on the same day. The Flüeler tunnel, a 2.6 km long bypass tunnel, was opened on June 10, 2005 after a construction period of 6 years. At the end of July 2019 the street had to be closed again. Two large boulders threatened to fall on Axenstrasse. Controlled demolitions were unsuccessful. Sisikon was cut off from the rest of the canton of Uri until the blocked section was released again in mid-September. But already at the beginning of October there was another rock fall with debris flow , so that the route had to be interrupted again.

Planning

Between 2021 and 2029, Axenstrasse will be expanded in several stages. The 2898 meter long Morschach Tunnel begins in the north at the Ingenbohl junction and ends at the south portal of Ort. This will bypass the new well. The 4442 meter long Sisikon tunnel from Ort in the north to Gumpisch in the south is primarily intended to relieve the village of Sisikon from through traffic over the long term. The open Ort route between the two tunnels is being rebuilt. The road section is 120 meters long and runs in a slope at the level of the existing Axenstrasse. The previous Axenstrasse will remain in place and will be upgraded and made safer for tourists, cyclists and pedestrians. After the opening of the new road, it will be maintained by the federal government for another 50 years. It is not planned to hand over the road to Uri and Schwyz as a cantonal road until 2080. The expansion of Axenstrasse is expected to cost 980 million francs. The federal government intends to take over 916 million of this, Schwyz's share is 56 million francs, Uri's 8 million francs, as the new building is primarily located in Schwyz.

The Sisikon tunnel is to be completed by 2029. It is to be created in full excavation along the entire length using blasting. Due to the difficult location, it is not possible to drive from the portal ends. It is planned to create an intermediate attack called "Dorni". From this intermediate attack, the tunnel is driven to the north and south at the same time. The intermediate attack is said to be an access tunnel south of Sisikon. The entire supply and disposal of material is to take place via this access tunnel. The ventilation will also be realized through this. The tunnel will later be used for drainage. Material is to be delivered via Axenstrasse. The removal by ship. A ship docking station, conveyor belts and transfer points are necessary for this. A separate safety tunnel is not planned. An escape route is to be created under the roadway that can be reached via stairs. A separate safety tube would be technically too complex and financially unjustifiable. The north portal is planned in the hamlet “Ort” north of Sisikon. The south portal is planned in «Gumpisch».