January 30, 1875, Franz Ržiha, Europe's leading tunnel engineer, gave a speech about the Gotthard Tunnel for his fellow engineers of the Association of Austrian Architects and Engineers in Vienna. Austrian engineers had a reputation to maintain in tunnelling. In 1854, the era of Alpine tunnels began with the successful construction of the Semmering Tunnel. By 1875, the Mont Cenis Tunnel had just opened (1871) and engineers were drawing plans for tunnels under the Simplon and the English Channel. Moreover, the lobby for an Arlberg tunnel was in full swing which heated the debates in Austria. Tunnelling boomed. Engineers came up with ever more audacious plans for tunnels, which required alternative solutions and adjustments to the existing practices. Therefore, all eyes focused on progress reports of the Gotthard Tunnel. This new European tunnel project would influence the discussion about future projects. That winter day in 1875, Ržiha lectured on what he had seen at the Gotthard with his own expert eyes. Given the dynamic background, he knew well that his judgement mattered.

Ržiha brought his findings clearly to the fore. He predicted that the Gotthard Tunnel would never finish on time. His lecture criticised basically every decision Louis Favre, the tunnel's entrepreneur, had made. Ržiha sketched the Gotthard Tunnel construction as an irrational endeavour. Indignation sounded through in his words, especially because he had recently published a state-of-the-art overview on tunnelling. According to Ržiha, nothing proved that Favre had taken notice of these latest scientific developments in the field of tunnelling. If Favre would continue the construction work in his faulty manner, he risked complete failure. The only option left, according to Ržiha, would be to change radically the chosen construction method: Favre needed to abandon the ‘Belgian method’ and opt for the ‘Austrian’ one.

The journal of Austrian Architects and Engineers in Vienna published the eminent engineer's lecture with its harsh criticism a few months later. The publication caused a great stir among engineers involved in the Gotthard Tunnel construction and readers interested in tunnelling. Newspapers and engineering journals reprinted and discussed Ržiha's disapproval at length. Disturbing news from the construction site fed these discussions. Newspapers reported lack of progress, tensions among the different parties, and the resignation of the Gotthard Railway Company's chief engineer Robert Gerwig.