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Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21907, 7 October 1936, Page 3

The longest railway tunnel in' the world, .and, one of the greatest boring enterprises of any. age, is the-Simplon Tunnel connecting' Switzerland with Italy through the Alps. It is about J2 i miles long and was completed in 1905, alter about -six and a half years’ work and at a' cost of £3,100,000. The tunnel consists of two parallel passages, 16& ft wide and from 5000 f- to 7000 ft below the top of the-mountain above It, The two passage-ways are connected by transyerse galleries at intervals of 800 ft for ventilation and transportation purposes. The chief difficulties encountered by. the ifien who :bored it were the intense heat, which often rose to 110 degrees Fahr,. and the large number of springs, especially? hot springs, that ..turned , the tunnel, at times Into % canal add necessitated the sue* pension of work for months .at a time;