The Gousselerbierg Tunnel is a pair of a parallel road tunnel

Tunnel

A tunnel is an underground passageway, completely enclosed except for openings for egress, commonly at each end.A tunnel may be for foot or vehicular road traffic, for rail traffic, or for a canal. Some tunnels are aqueducts to supply water for consumption or for hydroelectric stations or are sewers...

s in the canton

Cantons of Luxembourg

||The districts of Luxembourg are divided into 12 cantons. These cantons are subdivided into 116 communes. The cantons, listed by district, include:Diekirch District*Clervaux *Diekirch *Redange *Vianden *Wiltz Grevenmacher District...

 of Mersch

Mersch (canton)

Mersch is a canton in the centre of Luxembourg, in Luxembourg District. The capital is Mersch.The canton consists of the following 11 communes:*Bissen*Boevange-sur-Attert*Colmar-Berg*Fischbach*Heffingen*Larochette*Lintgen*Lorentzweiler*Mersch...

, in central Luxembourg

Luxembourg

Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...

. The tunnels are named for the hill through which they pass, near the town of Gosseldange

Gosseldange

Gosseldange is a small town in the commune of Lintgen, in central Luxembourg. , the town has a population of 442.Near to the town of Gosseldange is the Gousselerbierg, under which passes the Gousselerbierg Tunnel, the second-longest tunnel in Luxembourg....

, in the commune

Communes of Luxembourg

The communes of Luxembourg are the lowest nation-wide administrative division in Luxembourg. They conform to LAU level 2.Within the hierarchy of administrative subdivisions, communes come directly below cantons, which are directly below districts. Communes are often re-arranged, being merged or...

 of Lintgen

Lintgen

Lintgen is a commune and small town in central Luxembourg, in the canton of Mersch. It is situated on the river Alzette., the town of Lintgen, which lies in the west of the commune, has a population of 1,686. Other towns within the commune include Gosseldange....

. At 2,695 metres (8,842 ft), the Gousselerbierg Tunnel is the second-longest tunnel in the country, after the Grouft Tunnel, at 2,950 metres (9,678 ft).

The tunnel carries the A7

A7 road (Luxembourg)

The A7 or otherwise known as the Motorway of the North , is a motorway in Luxembourg. It links the capital city with the North of the country...

 motorway, and is the first of three major tunnels on the route of the road, together with the Grouft Tunnel and the Stafelter Tunnel (1,850 m). Each of the twin tunnels contains two lane

Lane

A lane is a part of the roadway within a road marked out for use by a single line of vehicles in such a way as to control and guide drivers for the purpose of reducing traffic conflicts. Most public roads have at least two lanes, one for traffic in each direction, separated by Lane markings...

s of traffic in one direction. At its maximum, the tunnel lies 115 metres (377 ft) below the surface of the hill.

The tunnel was constructed using the New Austrian Tunnelling method

New Austrian Tunnelling method

The New Austrian Tunnelling method was developed between 1957 and 1965 in Austria. It was given its name in Salzburg in 1962 to distinguish it from old Austrian tunnelling approach. The main contributors to the development of NATM were Ladislaus von Rabcewicz, Leopold Müller and Franz Pacher...

, relying on the stress

Stress (physics)

In continuum mechanics, stress is a measure of the internal forces acting within a deformable body. Quantitatively, it is a measure of the average force per unit area of a surface within the body on which internal forces act. These internal forces are a reaction to external forces applied on the body...

 of the surrounding rock to stabilise the tunnel. Preparatory work on the tunnel began on 17 April 2000, and drilling work began on 21 November of the same year. The breakthrough

Breakthrough

Breakthrough or Break through may refer to:* Breakthrough , an abstract strategy board game* Breakthrough , 1979 war film* Breakthrough , 1950 war film featuring John Agar...

 ceremony was held on 12 December 2002, with Grand Duke

Grand Duke of Luxembourg

The Grand Duke of Luxembourg is the sovereign monarch and head of state of Luxembourg. Luxembourg has been a grand duchy since 15 March 1815, when it was elevated from a duchy when placed in personal union with the United Kingdom of the Netherlands...

 Henri

Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg

Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg OIH is the head of state of Luxembourg. He is the eldest son of Jean, Grand Duke of Luxembourg and Princess Joséphine-Charlotte of Belgium. His maternal grandparents were King Leopold III of Belgium and Astrid of Sweden...

 detonating the explosive charge that connected the two ends of the tunnels. Altogether, the tunnel cost €

Euro

The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...

100m to construct, and 420,000 m³ (14.8m cu ft) of earth were excavated, 65% of which was removed by explosives

Explosive material

An explosive material, also called an explosive, is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure...

.

External links

• Northern end: 49.73094°N 6.10567 °W
• Southern end: 49.70905°N 6.11866 °W