Fort Du Sapey
The Fort du Sapey is the center of an ensemble of fortifications designed to protect Modane, the valley of the Arc and the terminus of the Fréjus Rail Tunnel to Italy, which was completed in 1871. The fort was built 1,600 metres (5,200 ft) to the west of Modane at an altitude of about 1,700 metres (5,600 ft), on a hill that dominates the entire valley. The principal fort was built between 1884 and 1892 as part of the Séré de Rivières system. Construction was initially of stone, but concrete was added after the invention of high explosive made masonry construction untenable in fortifications. Additional work was undertaken in 1913, continuing until work stopped in 1916. The work reinforced magazines, batteries and shelters and excavated galleries for further shelters into the rock. A special battery was built and excavated into the rock to directly cover the end of the Fréjus tunnel. The entire ensemble was surrounded by a wall.
The position received a disproportionate amount of resources, considering the limited possibilities for enemy attack through the tunnel or over the Mont Cenis pass.
Read more about this topic: Ouvrage Sapey
Famous quotes containing the word fort:
“How often we read that the enemy occupied a position which commanded the old, and so the fort was evacuated! Have not the school-house and the printing-press occupied a position which commands such a fort as this?”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)