“Good morning Hans, an alarm has been triggered in the ‘Dangel km 51.900’ area. Please assess the situation immediately and launch all necessary emergency measures.”
Saturday morning, 4:37 am: the electronic alarm on the Gotthard mountain route has just been triggered. It is important to keep a cool head and assess the alarm location as quickly as possible. There may be danger to rail traffic. It’s a major responsibility for the PORR team, who are on standby 24/7.
Depending on the emergency measures that are required, a group of PORR Rock Team members throws on their work clothes as quickly as possible, gathers up the necessary equipment, and secures the danger area.
The PORR Rock Team works hard to keep the Gotthard mountain route – and with it, thousands of passengers – safe.
“Natural hazards, whether slow-moving or instant, are our bread and butter. Not many people are aware that we sometimes spend hours handling 30kg weights while suspended from a cliff face, carrying out our work manually”, comments head foreman and rock specialist Hans Furger.
The biggest challenge is ensuring rail traffic is unaffected, regardless of when the triggering event takes place. Sudden natural events, often due to weather conditions, mean particular feats of logistics if they occur at weekends or on public holidays.
On that Saturday morning? The hazard location on the Gotthard mountain route was made safe an hour after the alarm was raised. Rail traffic continued throughout the time our Rock Team was working.
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