Engineering Wonders of the World
Volume III

THE WONDERFUL CURVES ON THE ST. GOTHARD RAILWAY AT WASSEN, IN THE VALLEY OF THE REUSS. The line is seen at three different levels. (Photo, Swiss Federal Railways.) THE GREAT TUNNELS THROUGH THE ALPS. THE huge elevated masses of the Alps form what is undoubtedly the most important physical feature of the European continent. In them rise most of the great rivers of Central and Western Europe. Their opposition to the passage of wind currents regulates in large degree the climate of the countries in their immediate neighbourhood. Not less important are their political effects. But for the obstacles thrown by them in the way of movements of human beings, the his- tory of Europe would have been very dif- ferent. By the Alps, Italy is separated on the north from France, Switzer- i j j a . • mi. • x The is- land, and Austria. They inter- pose an almost complete ring fence between Switzerland and France, Italy, Germany, and Austria. In short, the Alps are, and always have been, the dividers of European nations. Here and there occur breaches in the barriers, through which have marched invading hosts— Carthaginians, Romans, Goths, Huns, French, Germans, Austrians—through which has been