Levantina valley and surprised three thousand Ticinese encamped at Airolo. The Ticinese were quickly driven back as far as the Moesa bridge. However, once the Uri soldiers arrived at this point, they found themselves face to face with Graub�nden and Ticino militia, superior to them in number, who stopped their progress. The expedition had no other result than holding back two thousand Federal troops from the places where decisive blows were to be struck. Between 1871 and 1881, Airolo was home to many workers on the Gotthard rail tunnel. Construction was difficult due to financial, technical and geological issues, the latter leading to the death of around 200 workers (the exact number is not known) mainly due to water inrushes; many were also killed by the compressed air-driven trains carrying excavated material out of the tunnel. A strike of the workers in 1875 was crushed by the Swiss Army, killing four and wounding 13.
Fires ravaged the village four times, the last times in 1736 and 1877. After the landslide of Sasso Rosso on 28 December 1898, which destroyed part of the village, killed three people and destroyed the village forest, the great defensive wall was erected above the houses. In the beginning of the 19th Century construction began on avalanche protection. Then, after the avalanches of 1923 and 1951 (ten deaths) construction resumed and continued into modern times. As early as 1890, Airolo had electric street lighting. The power plant was built in the municipality in 1922. Hydroelectric plants were built by both public and private agencies. In 1958, the settlements of Brugnasco and Albinasca were connected by roads to Airolo. In 1969 the first sewage treatment plant built in Canton, opened in Airolo. In 1986, the town council approved comprehensive building and zoning regulations.
Despite several natural disasters and the pollution and traffic from the Gotthard tunnel, Airolo has remained, since the beginning of the 20th Century, a popular
