The Épine Tunnel is a motorway tunnel situated in France, in the

Savoie Savoie (; Arpitan: ''Savouè'' or ''Savouè-d'Avâl''; English: ''Savoy'' ) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, Southeastern France. Located in the French Alps, its prefecture is Chambéry. In 2019, Savoie had a population of ...

department, in the

Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (ARA; ; frp, Ôvèrgne-Rôno-Ârpes; oc, Auvèrnhe Ròse Aups; it, Alvernia-Rodano-Alpi) is a region in southeast-central France created by the 2014 territorial reform of French regions; it resulted from the merger of Au ...

region. The tunnel is 3,200 metres long and crosses the

Chaîne de l'Épine The Chaîne de l'Épine, in the department of Savoie in southeast France, is a long ridge of the Jura Mountains that runs north–south along the east side of the Lac d'Aiguebelette, from the Col de l'Épine west of Chambéry as far as th ...

on the A43 autoroute between

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

and Chambéry.

Location

The Épine tunnel crosses the

mountain in Savoie. Lyon is 125 kilometres eastbound, Chambéry is 15 kilometres westbound. The tunnel is 53 kilometres from

Annecy Annecy ( , ; frp, Èneci or ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France. It lies on the northern tip of Lake Annecy, south of Geneva, Switzerland. Nicknamed ...

and 71 kilometres from Grenoble. The western entrance is located less than 500 metres from the northern tip of Lac d'Aiguebelette. The eastern entrance is by the town of

La Motte-Servolex La Motte-Servolex (; frp, La Mota-Cèrvolê) is a commune in the Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France. It is part of the urban area of Chambéry.Bourgoin-Jallieu Bourgoin-Jallieu (; frp, Brégon) is a commune in the Isère department in the region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes in France. The city had 28,834 inhabitants in 2019 and lies 35 kilometres east-southeast of Lyon. It was formed by the merger of the ...

and Chambéry. Work had begun on the eastbound tunnel, however was delayed due to roughly 2000m² of sand and mud needing to be cleared out from the cavity. This cavity was then filled with a concrete dam to prevent any further effusion. Work on the tunnel resumed in August 1989, to allow the tunnel to be completed prior to the Albertville Olympics in 1992. There is a skylight at the top of the concrete dam to view the cavity. The eastbound tunnel was commissioned and opened to traffic in 1991. After the tunnel opened, visitors were not permitted to the cavity due to an increase in exhaust emissions. Between 3 and 20 August 2009, AREA (the tunnels operator) carried out renovation work on the westbound tunnel. AREA claimed this was to improve drainage of the Épine massif to the right of the tunnel. Heavy rain had caused the tunnel to rise and the work consisted of building a chamber to facilitate the flow of water without affecting the tunnel.

Characteristics

The tunnel is approximately 3,200 metres long and is made up of two directional tunnels, eastbound and westbound. The eastbound tunnel is slightly shorter in length since the entrances are closer to the cliff. The tunnels are straight however have a slight curve at each end, which makes it difficult to see the exit on approach. The tunnel is equipped with speed cameras.

References

{{reflist Road tunnels in France Savoie Tunnels completed in 1991 1991 establishments in France