Sonnenberg Tunnel
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The Sonnenberg Tunnel is the world's largest civilian nuclear fallout shelter. Part of it is also a motorway tunnel and it is located near Lucerne, Switzerland. It is around 1,550m long and capable of protecting 20,000 civilians in the eventuality of war or disaster.
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[edit] Civilian Shelter
Switzerland aims to provide nuclear fallout shelters for its entire population. As of 2006 Switzerland provides 270,000 shelters for 95% of the population. The construction of the Sonnenberg Tunnel started after a 1963 Swiss Federal Law decision to provide shelter for the citizens of Lucerne. It cost around $32.5 million and was subsidised by the construction of the Motorway tunnel. The shelter consists of two main tunnels capable of holding 10,000 people each, split into 64 person units. A central seven story tunnel holds a command post, an emergency hospital and a radio station. The shelter is designed to withstand a 1 Megaton nuclear explosion within 1 kilometre, and the doors are 1.5 metres thick and weigh 350 tonnes.
The logistical problems of maintaining a population of 20,000 in close confines was not thoroughly explored, and combined with the failure of the doors to shut, during a test in 1987, forced the closure of the tunnel. It is now to be converted into a motorway tunnel, but the central seven story cavern is to be retained as a shelter, but with a more normal capacity of only 2,000.
[edit] Motorway Tunnel
The A2 motorway from Chiasso to Basel passes through the motorway section of the tunnel complex and carries around 50,000 vehicles a day.
