Press release - On January 26, 2023 the patron saint Santa Barbara blessing was given so construction could begin for the safety tunnel for the Isla Bella tunnel. The tunnelling works will be working towards the north portal. The 2.5 km long safety tunnel with 7 cross passages will be built parallel to the existing road tunnel. The tunnelling will encounter 20m stretch of loose rock as well as Graubünden slate.The Joint Venture is composed of Rothpletz (Lienhard), Cie AG (Aarau), Infra Tunnel SA (Marin) and Lazzarini AG.     According to the current standards for tunnel safety, the Isla Bella tunnel needs to have a safety tunnel and it has to be renovated with clear signage of the escape routes, accessible communication facilities, emergency lighting. Works are expected to last up to three years. The construction does not require any changes to the traffic routing and has no impact on the traffic flow on the A13. The costs were estimated at around EUR50.13 million (CHF 50 million). For futher information click ch/92 https://tunnelbuilder.com/Archive/Projects.aspx?&projectcode=ch%2f92   for the tunnelbuilder archive also visit https://www.astra.admin.ch and https://www.rothpletz.ch, http://www.infratunnel.ch/ and https://www.lazzarini.ch/. 06/23.