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Article: Swiss cheese mountains.
- Article from:
- Faces: People, Places, and Cultures
- Article date:
- October 1, 2008
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2008 Carus Publishing Co. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Are you ready to travel at 250 miles per hour some 1.5 miles beneath the surface of a mountain? If so. you'll be excited to learn that sometime soon after 2016 you will be able to. Of course, first you will have to get to Switzerland--the land of chocolate, watches, and mountains cut up inside like Swiss cheese!
Ain't No Mountain High Enough
Though others might be daunted at the thought of boring through mountains, it's old hat to the Swiss. The first tunnel dug through a Swiss Alpine pass, the "Urnerloch," was built in 1707. It shortened travel over Saint Gotthard. It was a mere 210 feet long. The longest tunnel to date prior to 2007 was the Gotthard ...