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Exporting know-how to other countries
Thanks to the accumulated experience,
FCC has great capabilities in designing rai-
lway lines, during execution and during the
operations phase.
Saint Gotthard Tunnel (Switzerland)
This 57km long tunnel the new infrastruc-
ture executed by a consortium headed by
FCC’s subsidiary ALPINE, will connect Erst-
feld and Bodio, two cities in Switzerland.
The TAT consortium, of which ALPINE is a
partner, was awarded the 15 km-long Bo-
dio section, the 14 km long Faido section,
plus two of the five sections comprising the
project.
The 1.258 billion Euros contract also con-
templates the execution of the railway in-
frastructure of the two one-lane tunnels and
the installations as well as the construction
of 11 km of above-ground railway lines
connecting to the existing railroad network.
Once the tunnel is completed, the capaci-
ty for merchandise transport in the north-
south corridor in Switzerland will increase
twofold to 40 million tons. Travel time bet-
ween Zurich and Milan will be 2 hours and
40 minutes, about one hour less than now.
The future passenger trains will be able to
cross the Alps at a maximum speed of 250
km/hour.
THE BOSS AND HIS PROJECT
Juan Margareto
Experience:
He began his professional career in coal mi-
ning and joined FCC in 2001 in the Trans-
port Branch Office where he has worked at
different projects. He is currently the Project
Manager of the Pajares Tunnel section.
The personal/professional challenges
that you must deal with:
The current challenge is the execution of
the waterproofing and drainage systems of
the Pajares tunnels.
How have the lives of citizens improved?
This high-speed railway network has not
only changed medium and long distan-
ce travelling in Spain; it has also changed
significantly the demographic distribution
around the country’s capital.
Thanks to the speed and punctuality in tra-
velling, we noticed how cities and towns
have recorded significant demographic
growth.
In your opinion, which has been the
most significant project and why?
There have been two projects that have
marked the history of the high-speed rai-
lway in Spain. The first one is the Guada-
rrama Tunnel where its length and the hard-
ness and abrasiveness of the rock that had
to be drilled marked a turning point in the
development of the high-speed line.
The second project is the Pajares tunnel
due to the geological and hydro-geological
complexity, combined with the presence of
methane gas along the route. This implied
that we had to develop water pumping and
ventilation systems for the tunnel, the first of
their kind in Europe and we could also say
also in the world.
What can FCC Construcción offer
for the execution of projects of these
characteristics?
The experience and qualification of FCC
personnel are, in my opinion, the two most
important aspects to highlight for future
projects.
The experience and capabilities of FCC
personnel has increased considerably
thanks to the expectations generated at
the beginning of each project and has often
been the driving force when we participated
in a joint venture with other companies in
the industry.
The experience acquired during the execu-
tion of projects over these past years has
given us a great curriculum for our expan-
sion abroad where there are still many cou-
ntries with enormous failings in this trans-
port system.
I would like to take the opportunity to
highlight the great work carried out by
FCC’s technical services, providing their
constant support to the projects. Persona-
lly, I have received their support, especia-
lly from Diego García Aldaya in machinery
and from José Manuel Gutiérrez Manjón in
geotechnical work.