Belchen tunnel
Map with all coordinates: | Belchen tunnel | ||||
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 North portal of the Belchen tunnel
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| use | Road tunnel | |||
| traffic connection | A2 motorway | |||
| length | 3180 m | |||
| Number of tubes | 2 (another one planned) | |||
| business | ||||
| release | December 1970 (not 1966) | |||
| location | ||||
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| Coordinates | ||||
| North portal | 628537 / 247608 | |||
| South portal | 629965 / 244734 | |||
The Belchen Tunnel is a 3,180 meter long, two-tube road tunnel on the A2 motorway in Switzerland . It connects Eptingen in the canton of Basel-Landschaft with Hägendorf in the canton of Solothurn and, when crossing the Alps, is part of the important north-south connection from Germany via Basel to the Swiss plateau and from there via Lucerne to Italy and via Bern to the Lake Geneva region .
prehistory
Until the construction of the A2 national road and the tunnel, traffic from north-western Switzerland and Germany led over country roads and the Upper and Lower Hauenstein Passes into the Swiss Plateau. When road traffic increased more and more and up to 3,500 cars squeezed through the city gate of Liestal on peak days, planning and careful geological investigations began for a national road through the Arisdorf and Diegtertal and a tunnel under the Belchen to the southern foot of the Jura . In February 1960, construction work began on the motorway and the tunnel.
construction
Between 1963 and 1966, the drilling machines broke two pipes 40 meters apart through the limestone of the Jura rock . Seven cross tunnels connect the two carriageways, from which three ventilation chimneys lead to the surface of the earth. The northern portal is at 605 m above sea level. M. , the southern at 610 m above sea level. M. and the culmination point at 618 m above sea level. M. The first breakthrough took place on October 16, 1964, and in December 1970 the tunnel was opened to traffic.
renovation
As a result of the enormous mountain pressure from the water-bearing anhydrite (calcium sulphate), gypsum and clay mineral layers , flaking and deformations on the tunnel walls and the tunnel floor became visible after a short time. Therefore, the tunnel was used twice during nine months as a construction site. In the years 2001 to 2003, one tunnel tube was closed for the renovation work. In addition to the repairs, the tunnel was also adapted to the latest safety requirements. Due to the operation of only one tube with oncoming traffic, there were at times severe traffic delays and traffic jams that lasted for kilometers on both sides of the tunnel.
Third tube
In order to prevent traffic jams during renovation and maintenance work and to always have two tubes with two lanes each in operation, a third tube was dug into the mountain next to the two existing ones, the infrastructure of which is currently expected to be installed until 2021. On March 26, 2003, the Federal Council and then the cantonal parliaments of the two cantons of Basel-Landschaft and Solothurn approved the Belchen renovation tunnel project . On February 9, 2016, the construction of the 500 million Swiss franc renovation tube began at the south portal of the Belchen tunnel.
After completion of the third tube, the two existing tubes will be renovated one after the other. The new construction of the rehabilitation tunnel will not lead to an increase in capacity. Even after the repair work, car drivers will only have two tunnels with four lanes. In normal operation, the two outer tubes should be used and the middle tube should serve as an escape and rescue tunnel or as a driving tunnel for the annual maintenance and repair work.
Data
- Length: 3180 m
- Construction period: August 1, 1963 to June 8, 1966
- Tunnel excavation
- Tunneling: approx. 60 meters per month
The urban legend of the "white woman"
1980–83 the modern legend of the “ Weisse Frau vom Bölchentunnel” (also called The Weisse Frau vom Belchen tunnel) circulated in the region - a ghostly phenomenon that spoke to motorists. In 2012, a short film entitled di wyssi Frou… was made about this phenomenon .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ https://www.belchentunnel.ch/?M_ID=6&S_ID=17
- ↑ Die Weisse Frau vom Belchentunnel: Traditions and their innovations in Walter Leimgruber ; Sow, roar, celebrate; 2013, ISBN 978-3-03919-298-4
- ^ The Belchenfrau - an encounter of the third kind bazonline.ch
- ↑ Experiment with the White Woman - Article by Dina Sambar in the online edition of the Basler Zeitung on July 7, 2010, accessed on January 7, 2011
- ↑ Di wyssi Frou… swissfilms.ch