50 years, 50 award-winning projects - 10 from Implenia
The ITA (International Tunneling and Underground Space Association) is turning 50 and is celebrating its anniversary at the World Tunnel Congress(WTC) 2024 in Shenzhen, China. The ITA is taking this milestone as an opportunity to look back on its structures from the last half century. Because there are a lot of them, the umbrella organization has selected the 50 best projects, ten of which were realized by Implenia. We would like to take you on a journey and proudly present our buildings, which are among the 50 icons.
The 10 nominated Implenia projects
Above ground and underground in the home country
There's no place like home!
We have contributed to this over the last 50 years with our five award-winning projects in our home country, Switzerland.
We have even managed to break a record that we still hold today: With the Gotthard Base Tunnel, we have built the longest railroad tunnel in the world.
The FIVE Swiss projects
Gotthard road tunnel
We begin our journey on May 5, 1970 in Switzerland. This day marks the start of construction of the longest road tunnel in the Alps and the fourth-longest road tunnel in the world: the Gotthard road tunnel measures an impressive 16.9 kilometers and is still the most important Swiss corridor that paves the way for cars through the Alps.
CERN particle accelerator LHC
Almost three decades later, in 1998, Implenia took on a completely different project: the LHC particle accelerator for CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research - Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire) in Geneva.
We erected various buildings above and below ground in which CERN is now researching new atoms and the smallest particles.
Lötschberg Base Tunnel
In July 1999, just one year after construction of the particle accelerator began, Implenia embarked on another project that would become one of the top 50 iconic structures: The Lötschberg Base Tunnel is a 34.6-kilometer-long railroad tunnel that went into operation in 2007.
It is the fifth longest railroad tunnel in the world and winds its way through the Alps parallel to the Gotthard axis.
Gotthard Base Tunnel
After building the five longest railroad tunnels, we could not resist building the longest railroad tunnel in the world from 2002 to 2014.
The Gotthard Base Tunnel measures 57.1 kilometers and crosses the central Swiss Alps and the eponymous Gotthard massif.
Nant de Drance
Before we leave Switzerland, we would like to introduce you to our latest construction project: The Nant de Drance underground pumped storage power plant was built between 2008 and 2018 and went into operation in 2022.
The power plant is located on the border between France and Switzerland and operates with six impressive 150 MW Francis pump turbines.
THREE projects from France
The 12,870-metre-long Fréjus Tunnel passes under the Pointe de Fréjus in the Mont-Cenis massif and connects Piedmont (Italy) with Haute-Savoie (France).
If you have ever traveled in the greater Paris area, you may have taken our metro line 17, which runs for 27 kilometers through 13 municipalities.
Our latest project in France is the TELT CO08 - Villard Clément, a base tunnel that is expected to be completed in 2027.
The German project: Elbe Tunnel tube
In Hamburg, the Elbe Tunnel stretches across six lanes and - at least until the turn of the century - three tubes. When the tunnel, designed for 70,000 vehicles, regularly saw traffic volumes twice as high, it was clear that a new tube had to be added to the structure. This fourth tube of the Elbe Tunnel was built by Implenia between 1995 and 2003 and is now mainly used by trucks.
The Brenner Base Tunnel in Austria
Last but not least, we would like to ask you to accompany us to beautiful Austria.
You can still meet us on the construction site here until 2028, as we are currently working on the Brenner Base Tunnel. This is a flat rail tunnel that connects Austria and Italy over a distance of 55 kilometers.
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