Zurich Process

Safety

Safety precautions in the Mont Blanc Tunnel

After the 1999 closure, the tunnel underwent important restoration and modernization works, adopting solutions that constitute a reference model on a world level.

Modernization of the Mont Blanc Tunnel has consisted in equipping the infrastructure with high quality systems. The Tunnel has Centralized Technical Management (CTM), a computer system that checks and keeps the tunnel under constant surveillance along its entire length and processes data coming from over 35,000 control points. It is able to detect any anomaly and suggest to the operator the scenario that will allow him to use the appropriate road signs, adjust the ventilation, inform users (FM radio, variable message boards), give the alarm to emergency teams and give the alarm to and communicate with outside intervention teams.

A comprehensive safety system:

  • 37 safe shelters
  • 1 pure air channel linked to the safe shelters for the evacuation of users
  • 116 SOS booths
  • 120 cameras
  • 12 FM radio frequencies that can be received inside the tunnel, broadcasting safety messages in three languages
  • 40 half-barriers each associated with a variable message panel and a red traffic lig ht
  • 20 overhead variable message boards
  • 20 traffic lights per direction
  • 1 thermometrie cable equipped with 3,860 sensors
  • 1 conduit conveying water under pressure
  • 78 firefighting booths
  • 116 smoke extraction outlets
  • 76 overhead air accelerators
  • 10 radar speed control units
  • 10 radar safety distance control units
  • 36 emergency parking areas
  • 1 central immediate intervention post and 2 externaiones
  • 2 barriers at the entrances
  • 4 water tanks with a capacity of 120 m3 each
  • 4 640 lights