The Mont Blanc tunnel, a major axis between France and Italy, will be closed from October 16 to December 18 for maintenance work, postponed after a landslide in Maurienne, the manager of the structure announced on Wednesday.
After consultations at government and regional level, the technical maintenance work “requires the total closure of the structure for nine weeks”, indicates the GEIE-TMB in a press release.
This work of “replacing slab elements in the central portion of the tunnel” and “changing accelerators (fans) on the vault” will precede a “test site renovation of the vault (…) postponed to 2024”, detailed the manager.
“Around 90% of heavy goods vehicles will head towards Fréjus”
Maintenance work on the Mont Blanc tunnel was initially scheduled for September 4, but a spectacular landslide on August 27 in the Maurienne valley led to the closure of the Fréjus tunnel, another important route between the two countries.
To avoid congestion, the construction of the Mont Blanc tunnel was then postponed, and the work split into two sections.
In its press release, the GEIE-TMB, which “estimates that around 90% of heavy goods vehicles will head” towards Fréjus, also ensures “that it will do everything possible to ensure that traffic can be restored before December 18”.