They sweated and worked underground for 17 years, 360 days a year and 24 hours a day. When the Gotthard base tunnel is inaugurated with great pomp next week, many of them have already left the scene. The 2,000 miners employed at the construction site remained anonymous, while they realized the work of the centuries.
Nostalgia, pride and satisfaction; this is what René Kaufmann feels when he thinks of the tunnel. René Kaufmann, a giant with a reflective jacket and a solid handshake, has just spent 14 years in the Gotthard base tunnel. First in mine rescue, then in equipment management and finally as a locomotive engineer in Sedum (GR), where the difficult geological conditions allowed to work only with explosives.
Blasting is the queen discipline in the tunnel. The blaster master performs a final check round before proceeding with the explosion. The detonation is deafening, the huge shock wave. The acrid smell of ammonia rises to the nose of the miners. It’s hot – up to 50 degrees – wet and dust is ubiquitous. Thus the 46-year-old man described his daily task: “I had to carry comrades out of the tunnel because they collapsed.”
Team work in the heart of the mountain is hard: ten days of work, four leave. Quick starts are not uncommon. “Either you’re done for the tunnel, or you’re not.” René Kaufmann has been doing this job for thirty years.
His great-grandfather and grandfather were already working in the mines. A small town in East Germany, this is tradition. The locality was known for decades for its pure copper ore. Since he was sixteen, he is in the mines. The daily work has undergone dramatic changes: while René Kaufmann has learned the craft from scratch, satellite-guided machines perform many tasks today. The first workers in reflective vest were still attacking the rock with pickaxes and shovels. But for Kaufmann, the challenge remained the same: “snatch” a tunnel into the mountains.
What has also remained the same: risks? Despite the most modern technology, the fear is there when the elevator drops 800 meters to Sedum and a new day begins. Blocks of unstable rock, chemical substances, fires or accidents: many dangers lie in the mountains. Kaufmann learned it painfully: two comrades lost their lives in the tunnel. The memory of this 28-year-old German is lively, has become daddy shortly before and crushed dead between two wagons of ballast.
“These were hard times. Also because these accidents could have been avoided, “explains René Kaufmann. His compatriot had forgotten to press the emergency button to stop it. A miner must not only respect the mountain, but also the machines. The miners also count on Sainte Barbed, their patroness. There is no tunnel under construction that is not guarded by the saint.
It is not only the blows of fate that bind miners. Their lives reflect their work in the mountains. In Sedum, Kaufmann and his comrades lived on the outskirts of the village, in containers installed above the building site. Each had a single room. WC and showers were upstairs; meals were taken in the canteen.
All the minors came from abroad, especially from Germany, Austria, Portugal and Italy. Fellowship is crucial: “We are a small family”. We invite ourselves for grills, we play football or cards. René remained in contact with some colleagues, “thanks to Facebook”. Only teamwork allows for a real family life. After eight days, Kaufmann wear safety vest took the wheel of his car and was 800 kilometers. He spent five days with his wife and two sons before returning to Switzerland.
The future remains open. And René Kaufmann is a bit disillusioned. He expected a little more consideration here: “Once the tunnel is over, they drop you like a hot potato.” Currently, he takes care of the last interviews in the gallery. His contract expires the day before the festive inauguration of the tunnel. It has already been announced at the ORP, the regional placement office.