Fiber optic technology by DRAHTEX in the Gotthard Base Tunnel
Why fiber in the Gotthard Base Tunnel?
The electromagnetically rich railway systems environment, with its many sources of interference, makes interference-free connections essential. The advantages of fiber optic technology are inarguable. There are no problems with line lengths. fiber optic cables are significantly thinner and lighter for comparable transmission capacities. Another great advantage of Blow Fiber technology is in its optimum cost/benefit ratio.
For example, the installation can be adapted to current needs at any time without large construction efforts. With the Blow Fiber technology used in this project, the existing fibers can simply be blown out and new ones blown in. That makes extension and expansion easy at any time. There is no need to build in unused fiber reserves. In the Gotthard Base Tunnel, fiber optic sections up to 4 km in length were blown in. That may be a world record.

The DRAHTEX solution at a glance: |
3,100 km of fiber bundles for fine distribution |
75,000 km fiber length for fiber optics |
1,445 couplings |
6,000 km of microtubes |
3,000 end equipment components for fiber optics |
1,100 fiber optic module inserts, 12 E2000 APC each |
440 cable-end connectors |
Summery
The Gotthard construction project was also a great challenge for Drahtex. Products such as couplings and cable-end connectors were developed specifically for this project. This is a speciality of Drahtex. Products that are flexibly adapted or developed for specific needs. Drahtex employees were also frequently on-site to train the workers blowing in the fibers and to get a picture on-site of the progress of construction. Even on these sections up to 4 km in length, blowing in the fiber bundles worked perfectly. This is probably the best possible test of this technology, that it can work even at such extreme distances.
More details on DRAHTEX homepage.
Impressions out of 17 years construction time in a video by Alp Transit Gotthard AG