The Mont Blanc Tunnel Turns 50
The Tunnel was first opened to the public in July 1965
Work on the Mont Blanc tunnel, connecting Chamonix to the Aosta valley, started back in 1957 and was finally inaugurated and then open to the public on 19th July 2015.
The 11.6 km tunnel was first started from the Italian side back in 1946, but without any permission from the French to go ahead. Three years later the two countries signed an agreement and then the work to create the tunnel started a further ten years after that.
Around 1 million cubic metres of rock were extracted from the tunnel, which lies directly in line below the Aiguille du Midi (not Mont Blanc as the name suggests!) and at 2480 metres below ground, it is still the world's deepest operational tunnel.
The Italians dug more of the tunnel than the French and as a result only 1.8km lies on the French side of the border, with the remaining 9.8km on the Italian side (apparently)!
23 workers lost their lives in the construction process, which took over three years to complete. The inauguration by then French President Charles de Gaulle, and the Italian President, Giuseppe Saragat took place on the 16th July 1965, with the tunnel opened to the public on the 19th July.
Sadly the Tunnel fire of 1999 which led to the deaths of 39 people, will forever leave a tarnish on the tunnel's history. The people who died are commemorated in a memorial statue on the French side of the tunnel entrance, with one thin arm of the sculpture representing each of the people who died.
As a result of the fire, the tunnel remained closed until 2002 whilst new safety features were added and repairs were done.
To celebrate its 50th anniversary, the Mont Blanc tunnel opens to the public for guided tours lasting 1 hour 30 minutes. They will take place on selected dates in July & August, and will be in French & Italian only.
