Green light for Frejus tunnel reopening
Two months after the closure of the Fréjus tunnel due to a serious fire which killed two Slovakians, it was announced yesterday by France's Transport Minister, Dominique Perben and his Italian counterpart, Pietro Lunardi that the Fréjus tunnel will reopen on 04 August 2005.
Up to 40 different companies have been working 24/7 to complete the necessary interior cleanup and maintenance work to restore the tunnel so that cars and heavy goods lorries (less than 3.5 tonnes) can pass through, in total seven million euros has been spent ensuring the tunnel is fit for operation. The tunnel will perform one-way directional restrictions, rotating on an hourly basis for the heavier HGV vehicles. This will stay in operation until the 23 August 2005 at the earliest.
All heavy goods vehicles must pass through a thermographic sensor at both entrances of the tunnel to detect any heat signals and reduce the potential threat from a similar incident occurring in the future.
This news couldn't have come early enough for the residents of the Chamonix valley, where traffic using the Mont Blanc tunnel is three times higher since 04 June 2005.
