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The Gotthard pioneer
This stamp commemorates Louis Favre, who passed away in 1879 during an inspection in the Gotthard tunnel shortly before the breakthrough of his historic construction project. Louis Favre was born in Chêne-Bourg near Geneva 200 years ago. The son of a family of craftsmen, he first trained as a carpenter before becoming a self-made engineer. He picked up his technical knowledge himself without any academic study, but through practical work, observation and self-study. His career soon led him to France, where he was involved in railway tunnel projects. Gradually, this self-taught engineer became a construction entrepreneur specializing in complex major projects.
In 1872, Favre was awarded the contract to build the Gotthard tunnel one of Europe’s biggest infrastructure projects. His bid was attractive because of its low cost and fast construction time. But it soon became apparent that Favre’s calculations were overly ambitious: water, heat, unstable rock strata and enormous rock pressure caused the works to fall drastically behind schedule. Financial pressure also grew as a result because every delay entailed a contractual penalty. This turned the construction into an ongoing race against time and nature, with numerous financial and legal burdens.
Hard work and tensions
The working conditions in the tunnel were tough: severe physical strain, explosions, collapses, accidents with carts and harmful air conditions claimed numerous victims. 199 of the accident victims are known by name, most of whom were from the
Piedmont region in northern Italy. In 1875, there was a strike that ended violently an expression of the social tensions on the construction site.
Death before the breakthrough
On 19 July 1879, Louis Favre died of heart failure during a tunnel visit at the age of 53. He missed out on the key moment of his life’s work: the breakthrough of the Gotthard tunnel took place a few months later, in February 1880. Nevertheless, Favre was symbolically represented at the breakthrough with a photo and an accompanying text. His work is still regarded as a milestone in tunnel construction and in the development of Swiss transport infrastructure.
