2023-09-24 09:17:35
The operation will be risky and technical. Helicopters will drop enormous quantities of water this Sunday morning above the Praz cliff in Savoie, to purge 3,000 to 4,000 cubic meters which still threaten to collapse, according to France Bleu Pays de Savoie. This operation was decided as a precaution given the scale of the project, after the rockslide which occurred at the end of August. The specialists initially leaned towards the use of explosives, but it was a “hydraulic purge” which was ultimately chosen, indicates the local radio website.
Three levels of containers were installed 250 meters long to block the stones. In addition, 500 sandbags and six dumpsters were mobilized to avoid damage to the asphalt. The purpose of this water release is to deliberately cause landslides in order to remove the last unstable rocks, which endanger the sustainability of the railway tunnel.
A spectacular landslide last August
Traffic will be interrupted in both directions of the A43 between Freney and Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne. Vehicles will however be able to take a detour via Saint-André, while heavy goods vehicles and buses will have to wait until the end of this cliff clearing. The authorities hope to be able to reopen traffic by the end of the morning.
The A43 motorway was closed on August 27, after a spectacular landslide of 700 m3 of rock in Saint-André, in the Maurienne valley (Savoie). An entire section of a cliff broke away in the Savoy valley, a few kilometers before the Fréjus tunnel. No injuries were reported but road and rail traffic, particularly to Italy, was severely disrupted.
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