Gotthard Base Tunnel

The new Gotthard Base Tunnel located underneath the Alps in Switzerland is now the world's longest tunnel. Before this Japan's Seikan Tunnel is the longest tunnel in the world. The tunnelling project started in the 40's by engineer Eduard Gruner and recently, Swiss engineers smashed through the last stretch of rock. Overall, it took them almost 60 years to dig through the 35.4-mile (57 - Kilometer) long tunnel.

The Gotthard Base Tunnel will add to the high-speed transportation network covering all angles of Europe. The high-speed rail will carry millions of goods cutting through the Alps thus reducing the environmental damage that heavy trucks inflicted on the Switzerland's Alpine highland.

The Gotthard Base Tunnel will create a high-speed transportation link which is economically important link between the Dutch port of Rotterdam and Italy's Mediterranean port of Genoa.

Thus, Europeans are willing to spend so much money on building a new high-speed transportation link because they know that the link is vital to their continuous growth in economy which will benefit them in the future.

Read further story HERE.

Car Crashing into Trees

Planting trees beside roadway can be aesthetically pleasing to the eyes and is environmental friendly. In Malaysia, planting trees besides the road can help drivers reduce tropical heat especially during midday. Usually, speed limit is low along the road with trees planted besides the road.

However, any fix object located besides roadway can be considered as traffic hazard. Severe accident can occur if the vehicle is out of control and at the same time hitting the trees. In this case, the only solution is to drive according to the stipulated speed limit to avoid vehicles from skidding and involve in serious accident.

Yesterday, six people died when the Honda City they were travelling in crashed and collided into two trees at the Kuala Lumpur-Ipoh trunk road at Jeram, near Kampar. The incident occurs at 2 am where five of the victims, who were trapped in the car, died on the spot. The impact of the crash into the first tree causes the vehicle to collide with another tree. According to police, the vehicle was speeding before it lost control and collided with the trees.

For more news, read HERE.

Emergency Landing

A Qatar Airways Airbus A330 enroute from Manila to Doha made an emergency landing at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) after one of its pilots died of a heart attack mid-air. All 250 passengers on board landed safely, thanks to the Co-Pilot. 

Thus, for aircraft, the plane can still be piloted safely due to the presence of both pilot and co-pilot. In case there is an emergency involving the pilot, as in this case, the co-pilot will take over the control of the aircraft.

Until now, I have been wondering about the case of vehicle accidents. It might be possible that some of the accidents occurs due to the drivers having an emergency such as having a heart attack causing their vehicles to be out of control and ended up with fatal accident. In that case, the blame will usually be put on the driver for driving recklessly. It would be very difficult for the police officer to identify the root cause of such an accident (i.e. the heart attack). Thus, the only possible reason is to put the blame on the poor driver for reckless driving.

Miners finally being Rescued

33 miners were trapped underground since the collapsed of 700,000 tons of rocks around them on the Aug 5. Seventeen days after the rock collapsed, no one knew about their fate whether they were alive.

However, since then the world is stunned by the endurance and unity waiting in anticipation for the rescue efforts. Rescue shaft were prepared since then and only several hours ago that the rescue effort were able to be carried out by pulling each one of them using the specially designed capsule.

It is an historical events in many ways: longest surviving miners trapped underground, longest rescue effort ever attempted, etc.

Read more HERE.

Main Mode of Transport

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Originally uploaded by wanhashim

This is one of the main mode of transport along Btg. Lupar river. The boat is powered by an engine which enable them to travel inland via the river.