Mont Blanc Tunnel - History Until 1999

History Until 1999

• 1946: A hundred metres are drilled on the Italian side, marking the project start.
• 1947: Franco-Italian Agreement signed for the planning of a tunnel under Mont Blanc.
• 1953: Signature of a national charter for the tunnel construction, ratified by the parliaments of France (in 1954, by 544 votes against 32) and Italy (in 1957).
• 1957: Formation of the STMB (Société du tunnel du Mont Blanc), which became ATMB (Autoroutes et Tunnel du Mont Blanc) in 1996.
• 1959: In May, the French and Italian Public Works Ministers officially launch the drilling work. On 30 May in Chamonix, a ceremony is held for the start of the drilling work for the Mont Blanc Tunnel in the presence of the Public Minister for Labour. It is announced that a giant 75-tonne (74-long-ton; 83-short-ton) tunnel boring machine will make it possible to bore the tunnel in less than 30 months.
• 4 August 1962: Meeting of the French and Italian drilling teams. The opening was successful, the axis variation was less than 13 centimetres.
• 16 July 1965: Inauguration of the tunnel by the French president, Charles de Gaulle, and the Italian President, Giuseppe Saragat.
• 19 July 1965: Tunnel opens to traffic.
• 1973: Opening of the first section of the Autoroute Blanche.
• 1978: A network of surveillance cameras is installed every 300 metres (980 ft) and the total capacity of fresh air supply is increased to 900 cubic metres per second (32,000 cu ft/s).
• 1980: An additional air shaft, 7 metres (23 ft) in diameter, is built to avoid the build-up of foul air at the French end of the tunnel.
• 1990: Part of a multi-year modernization plan, the following work is done:
  • The installation of third generation video surveillance cameras with fibre-optic data transmission.
  • The construction of 18 pressurized emergency shelters, every 600 metres (2,000 ft), and safety recesses every 100 metres (330 ft).
  • The installation of a pressurized sprinkler system.
  • The replacement of safety features: phone terminals, fire extinguishers, power generators.
• 1997: The start of a fire detection system and the start of a study for automatic incident detection, centralized safety equipment management, and new variable message signs.

An alternative route for road traffic between France to Italy is the Fréjus Road Tunnel. Road traffic grew steadily until 1994, even with the opening of the Fréjus tunnel. Since then, the combined traffic volume of the for has remained roughly constant.