On this date in 1965, the Mont Blanc road tunnel, linking France with Italy, was inaugurated. The tunnel was inaugurated by the French president, Charles de Gaulle, and the Italian President, Giuseppe Saragat on 16 July 1965 and opened to traffic three days later. 10 facts about it:
This is a road tunnel which links Chamonix, Haute-Savoie, France with Courmayeur, Aosta Valley, Italy.
The tunnel is 11.611 km (7.215 mi) long, 8.6 m (28 ft) wide, and 4.35 m (14.3 ft) high. It takes 17 minutes to drive through.
Italy relies on this tunnel for transporting as much as one-third of its freight to northern Europe. It reduces the route from France to Turin by 50 kilometres (30 miles) and to Milan by 100 km (60 mi).
The agreement between France and Italy to build a tunnel was signed in 1949. Drilling began in 1959 and was completed in 1962.
When it was built, it was twice as long as any existing road tunnel. It’s also the second deepest at 2,480 metres (8,140 ft) below the surface. (FYI the deepest is the Gotthard Base Tunnel.)
The tunnel passes almost exactly under the summit of the Aiguille du Midi.
5 engineers and 350 workmen worked an estimated total of 4.6 million hours to complete the project which used 711 tonnes of explosives and 60,000 tonnes of cement.
In 2011, there were an average of 5,113 vehicles per day (about 1.87 million vehicles per year).
In 1999, a truck violently combusted halfway through the tunnel. The fire spread to other vehicles and 39 people lost their lives. The fire led to a tunnel closure until 9 March 2002.
A number of safety improvements were made as a result of the fire. Within the tunnel, a minimum speed of 50 km/h and a maximum speed of 70 km/h applies, while the prescribed distance between vehicles is 150 m.
Beta
(Combat Team Series #2)
Steff was abducted by an evil alien race, the Orbs, at fourteen. Used as a weapon for years, he eventually escapes, but his problems are just beginning. How does a man support himself when his only work experience is a paper round and using an Orb bio-integrated gun?
Warlord is an alien soldier who knows little but war. When the centuries-old conflict which ravaged his planet ends, he seeks out another world where his skills are still relevant. There are always wars on Earth, it seems. However, none of Earth's powerful armies want him.
Natalie has always wanted to visit England and sees a chance to do so while using her martial arts skills, but there are sacrifices she must make in order to fulfil her dream.
Maggie resorted to crime to fund her sister's medical care. She uses her genetic variant abilities to gain access to the rooms of wealthy hotel guests. The Ballards look like rich pickings, but they are not what they seem. When Maggie targets them, little does she know that she is walking into a trap.
Hotel owner Hamilton Lonsdale puts together a combat team to pit against those of other multi-millionaires. He recruits Warlord, Natalie, Maggie and Steff along with a trained gorilla, a probability-altering alien, a stockbroker whose work of art proved to be much more than he'd bargained for, a marketing officer who can create psionic forcefields, a teleporting member of the landed gentry, and a socially awkward fixer. This is Combat Team Beta.
Steff never talks about his time with the Orbs, until he finds a woman who lived through it, too. Steff believes he has finally found happiness, but it is destined to be short-lived. He is left with an unusual legacy which he and Team Beta struggle to comprehend; including why something out there seems determined to destroy it.
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