The Mont Blanc Tunnel
Witness History
BBC
4.5 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 12 February 2026
⏱️ 10 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In July 1965, a 12km tunnel dug deep beneath the Alps was opened to traffic, making it the longest vehicular tunnel in the world. Linking France and Italy, the Mont Blanc Tunnel was a remarkable feat of engineering.
Franco Cuaz, a consultant on the project and the tunnel's first operations manager, spoke to Mike Lanchin in 2017 about the risks and challenges of the ambitious project.
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(Photo: The Mont Blanc Tunnel. Credit: AFP via Getty Images)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts. |
| 0:10.0 | Hello and welcome to witness history from the BBC World Service. |
| 0:14.8 | We're the podcast that takes you back to the biggest moments in living memory |
| 0:17.9 | by interviewing people who are there. |
| 0:20.1 | Episodes are just nine minutes long and come out every weekday, |
| 0:23.2 | so hit subscribe and you'll never miss out. |
| 0:25.5 | In this episode, we're going back to the birth of an engineering marvel. |
| 0:29.5 | In 1965, the nearly 12-kilometer-long Monblon tunnel dug deep beneath the Alps |
| 0:34.8 | was open to traffic after many years of work. |
| 0:39.8 | In 2017, Mike Lanchin spoke to Franco Kouaz, one of the men who made it happen. |
| 0:49.2 | It's July 19, 1965, almost four decades have passed since the very first drilling began into the Alps, |
| 0:57.5 | and at last the Mont Blanc Tunnel joining France and Italy is open for traffic. |
| 1:02.9 | When I saw the first vehicle come through, I felt happy because it was a wonderful end to a long story, |
| 1:13.4 | a story of almost a century of hope, of expectations, of disappointments too. |
| 1:18.4 | And then my thoughts turned to my grandfather, who had been one of the pioneers of a Montblanc rail tunnel at the turn of the century. |
| 1:25.4 | And of course, I also thought about all those poor lads |
| 1:28.4 | who'd lost their lives trying to make this all possible. Hundreds of men had toiled for years |
| 1:34.3 | in intense heat, digging deep underground. Twelve had lost their lives. Dozens of others had |
| 1:40.1 | been injured in rock falls, avalanches and flooding. But now, one of Europe's most daring projects was finished. |
| 1:50.4 | Never before had a tunnel this long been built, |
| 1:53.2 | and we didn't know if the construction would hold up. |
| 1:55.8 | But in the end, it was all fine. |
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