The Federal Roads Office is being praised for managing to rebuild a 200-meter section of the A13 autoroute in less than two weeks.
It’s hoped traffic will start flowing again tomorrow.
The roads office says they had some luck. The waters receded faster than expected so work could begin earlier.
They also took then decision not to move large boulders blocking the path – but simply blew them up instead.
There was pressure to get the road running again to relieve the Gotthard Tunnel – especially as the Simplon Pass is closed at the moment due to another landslide.
The route is important for holiday makers, especially those in Germany wanting to head south. The rebuilding work has been followed closely by the German press for that reason. The Südkurier newspaper headlined ‘Turbo Swiss are Holiday Saviours.’
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