At this time the two previous projects of this character had proved so costly, had occupied such a long time, and had entailed the grappling with technical difficulties such as never had been encountered before, that the idea of tunnelling the Arlberg was entertained with mixed feelings. But Julius Lott, the engineer-in-chief, was not to be dissuaded from his enterprise. He maintained that it could be accomplished far more quickly and cheaply than had been the Cenis or Gotthard works. True, it was not to be quite so long as either of the latter undertakings, but similar difficulties, if not others more perplexing, might lurk buried there in the heart of the crest. The engineer was urged in his decision by the perfection of a new boring implement which had been evolved during the final stages of the Gotthard tunnel. Although the circumstances there did not enable the new invention to demonstrate its possibilities to the full, yet what had been done sufficed to show that the new tool was destined to revolutionise the methods adopted in such huge boring operations. This was the Brandt rock-drill, a wonderful appliance which in one stroke displaced incalculable manual labour. The tool is operated by water pressure, and the drill ploughs its way into the rock under a rotary movement in much the same manner as an auger forces its way through a piece of wood. The water pressure brought to bear upon the drill is tremendous, ranging from 1,400 to 1,680 pounds per square inch, and even the hardest rock scarcely can resist its attack. But, as may be supposed, at times the hard texture of the rock played sad havoc with the cutting edge of the drill. Occasionally three or four drills were put out of service with every yard of advance, and even then progress was painfully slow. When, however, soft rock was encountered the tool cleaved its way through very rapidly, the cutter biting half-an-inch or more into the material with every revolution. Then it was found possible to speed up the rotations to as many as seven or eight per minute, with proportionate increase of life for the cutting edge.