The Lyon-Turin tunnel looks like a sea serpent. This huge project under the Alps is now fifteen years behind schedule. But he continues to move forward! A good ten kilometers have already been dug out of the planned 57 kilometers and the opening is still scheduled for 2030.
The objective remains the same: to relieve the road networks by creating a rail line that will transport 80% of freight and passengers for the remaining 20%.
This rail tunnel is actually part of a much larger framework, that of the Mediterranean corridor which stretches from Lisbon in Portugal to Kiev in Ukraine. The only obstacle to this network is the mountain that must be dug. A titanic project whose cost amounts to 9 billion euros, a sum shared between the European Commission, France and Italy.
New contract for Vinci
In all, 7 tunnel boring machines are at work to dig between 15 and 20 meters per day. And the obstacles are not lacking. The workers, for example, had the unpleasant surprise of crossing layers of coal with the risk of falling on firedamp, this explosive gas composed of 90% methane. Engineers were also forced to inject binder into the rocks to prevent landslides and consolidate the ground.
At the beginning of July, a new step: Vinci was awarded a contract worth 220 million euros for the construction of four ventilation shafts for the 500-meter-deep tunnel. An ancillary project which should last 36 months.
Economic weapon
But the project does not lack opponents, especially for its environmental impact. Its opponents point out, for example, a potential capture of natural water sources that pass near the site. Barely elected mayor of Lyon, the ecologist Grégory Doucet was already showing his opposition. “We must not insist on a faulty project. It is the worst choice” he explained to the Italian newspaper. The print. As for the supporters, they recall that this link will allow between one and two million trucks which pass through the heart of the Alps each year to get off the road.
Finally, the tunnel is also an economic weapon which will make it possible to densify and accelerate trade, particularly between France and Italy, valued at nearly 90 billion euros per year.
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