Il Mont Blanc Tunnel will remain open: an agreement was reached with France to postpone the works in the tunnel between Courmayeur and Chamonix, which was scheduled to start on Monday 4 September. This was announced by the Ministry of Transport in a note. The worst case scenario, that of Northwest blocked, it seems at the moment averted: together with the closure of Mont Blanc, there is the tunnel of Frejus closed due to landslide, Gotthard where there was a derailment. In this complex scenario we also include theAustria with prohibitions and limits on circulation of industrial vehicles in the Austrian section of the Brenner axis.
The decision with all the details will arrive only on Monday 4 September, from the Italian-French Intergovernmental Conference. But the Minister of Infrastructure Matteo Salvini and its French counterpart Clement Beaune they have already announced the substance. The goal, Salvini said, "is to reopen Frejus as soon as possible, even if obviously it is on the French front so the French will decide it, but I asked the courtesy to postpone the work on Mont Blanc because otherwise it will be chaos". Yesterday, the long lines of vehicles heading for the tunnel - albeit reduced - counted waiting times of around two hours.
When does the Mont Blanc tunnel close?
“We will postpone the works that were planned in the Mont Blanc tunnel – confirmed the French minister Beaune -. I talked about it with my Italian counterpart Salvini also because it is also an Italian request. We will postpone the work for at least a few days. L'work beginning it will be linked to the reopening of the A 43 (the motorway from Lyon to Frejus). There will not be the closure of the Frejus and Mont Blanc tunnels at the same time: it would be unsustainable". Salvini and Beaune have also agreed, according to a note from MIT, to hold a meeting on the sidelines of the Barcelona Transport Ministerial on 21-22 September and to organize a joint inspection of the construction sites shortly. Turin-Lyon.
Therefore, When does the Mont Blanc tunnel close? We will only know on Monday. Salvini speaks of a 12-month postponement, a more cautious Baune speaks of a few days. One thing is certain, the two tunnels cannot be closed at the same time: the consequences would be unacceptable for both countries.
Turin-Lyon, green light to the tender for the Mont Cenis tunnel
The last section of the Turin-Lyon, from the French border to Susa, was contracted out. The board of directors of Telt (Tunnel euroalpin Lyon Turin) has given the go-ahead to sign the contract for the construction of the Moncenisio base tunnel in Italy. This was announced by the general manager of Telt Maurizio Bufalini.
The contract worth 1 billion euro was assigned to the grouping made up of the Italian Itinera (agent), Ghella and the French Spies Batignolles. This completes the assignment of all the works for the excavation of the 57,5 km of the railway tunnel under the Alps co-financed by Europe, France and Italy. The work is expected to last approximately 7 years, for a total of 28,5 kilometers of excavations.
