Dramatic footage of the landslide that closed the Frejus tunnel to heavy goods vehicles yesterday has been shared on social media. Various clips show a huge plume of dirt grow and spread across a major road as the landslide gathers pace.
#Frana a #Modane #Francia confine #Piemonte Autostrada uscita #traforo #Frejus ore 17.30 oggi.
Posto di controllo A32
Traffico chiuso ai mezzi pesanti. #Maltempo in peggioramento.#Allerta #Ultimaora pic.twitter.com/x9IvbIUWF9— cosmodelafuente (@Cosmodelafuente) August 27, 2023
According to France’s AFP news agency, regional authorities in Savoie said the rockslide occurred at 5:15 pm (1515 GMT) on Sunday. It added that boulders with a total volume of 700 cubic metres hit protective barrier along the RD 1006 road that leads to the Mont-Cenis pass into Italy’s Susa valley.
Besides the closure of the Frejus tunnel to heavy trucks, the landslide also caused disruption to cross-border rail services.
🕥 #TunnelduMontBlanc
✅ Les prévisions de trafic du 28 août au 3 septembre pour mieux planifier votre trajet et diminuer votre attente ici : https://t.co/jhEtm86KX4
👉 Toutes les prévisions par jour et par heure ici : https://t.co/fHYHDRMB4D pic.twitter.com/BMJINlStC4— Autoroutes et Tunnel du Mont Blanc (@ATMBinfo) August 28, 2023
Freight traffic was redirected towards the A8 motorway or the Mont Blanc tunnel, with the latter now subject to heavy freight traffic in particular.
Queues of over an hour at least are expected until the early hours of tomorrow morning, with long queues also expected tomorrow during daytime hours. In the embedded tweet above, you can check the forecasted waiting times, with red and black representing waiting times of over 1 hour.
The closure of the Frejus tunnel to heavy goods vehicles is for an indefinite period, creating a planning nightmare for transport managers. The main alternative option, the Mont Blanc tunnel, is set to close on Monday September 4th for 15 weeks.
If the Frejus tunnel cannot reopen to HGVs before then, it appears that many long, expensive and time-consuming de-tours will have to be made.
Photo: thierry llansades / Flickr / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 (image used for illustrative purposes only)