Extreme Engineering Season 1 Episode 6

Tunneling Through the Alps

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Season 1 Episode 6

Tiff Needell presents a documentary series examining ambitious engineering schemes, beginning with a multi-billion dollar project to build two railway tunnels running under the Swiss Alps. Stretching 21 and 31 miles, these two structures are the largest of their kind ever attempted, and when finished will allow passengers to travel from Milan to Zurich in less than two hours. The tunnels are dug by gigantic boring machines three storeys high and the length of four football fields, equipped with 30ft-wide drills capable of smashing through 130ft of rock a day. However, the project carries great environmental and safety risks, and extreme measures have to be taken to ensure nothing goes wrong