EMBA Class 12 at the Gotthard Tube: Strategy and Sustainability at Marti Tunnel

EMBA Class 12 | Field Visit | Infrastructure & Sustainability

Class 12 had the privilege of visiting the Marti Group’s construction works at the Gotthard highway tunnel doubling — southern lots — in Airolo. What unfolded was far more than an engineering spectacle. It was a masterclass in strategy, coordination, and sustainable thinking at scale.

A century of building excellence

Founded in 1922 as a small family business, the Marti Group has grown over a century into one of Switzerland’s leading construction conglomerates, today comprising more than 80 affiliated companies and over 6,000 employees operating across Switzerland and internationally. From the Bern train station reconstruction in 1958, to the Felsenau bridge in 1972, CERN in 1980, and the Prime Tower in Zurich in 2011, Marti has left its mark on the landmarks that define modern Switzerland.

What has remained constant throughout this remarkable growth is the group’s federal structure: independent subsidiaries, each expert in their field, strengthened by central coordination. This model allows Marti to deliver fully integrated solutions — from initial concept to final handover — without relying on external partners for critical workstreams.

The project: a second tube through the Alps

The Gotthard Road Tunnel, open since 1980, is a vital artery in Europe’s north-south transport corridor. After four decades of intensive use, the original tube requires a comprehensive refurbishment — a task impossible to carry out while it remains open to traffic. The solution: build a second parallel tube, open it by 2030, and only then undertake the renovation of the first.

The new tunnel stretches 7.8 km on the southern section alone and involves excavation through some of the most geologically challenging terrain in the Alps. 

Engineering at the frontier: the tunnel boring machine

The centrepiece of the southern operation is a tunnel boring machine (TBM) measuring 128 metres in length, with a cutting head diameter of 12.36 metres — roughly the width of a four-lane motorway. Transporting this machine to the Airolo site required multiple special convoys, meticulous logistical planning, and close coordination across several cantons.

Once assembled and launched from the consolidated southern portal — where specialist piles installed by Marti Bern have already secured the tunnel entrance and the first 100 metres of launch tunnel have been excavated — the TBM will advance at an estimated pace of 20 metres per day, with breakthrough planned for 2027.

The project’s greatest geological challenge lies approximately 4.9 km from the southern portal: a 340-metre disturbance zone known as “de Guspis”, where the rock is particularly friable. This zone will be crossed and secured under the main lot 341, requiring careful sequencing and pre-consolidation measures.

For an EMBA cohort trained to think in systems, the visit offered a rare opportunity to see systems thinking in action. The Gotthard project is, at its core, a study in managing complexity: multiple lots running in parallel, a multi-company consortium operating under shared accountability, real-time decision-making under geological uncertainty, and a constant need to balance regulatory, environmental, and community stakeholder demands.

A special thank you to EMBA Alumnus Roberto Zanoli,  Project Manager at Marti Tunnel.

The second Gotthard tube is scheduled to open to traffic in 2030. For those who had the privilege of seeing it from the inside — in every sense of the word — it stands as a reminder of what becomes possible when engineering ambition, organizational discipline, and genuine commitment to sustainability converge.