The COVID-19 pandemic had halted excavations at the Lyon (France) -Turin (Italy) Base Tunnel site for several weeks. Le The publication Le Moniteur writes that now the work is slowly restarted with some hygienic precautions. Only 60% of employees are back. Other are on sick leave or decided not to come back.

On April 14, in Saint-Martin de la Porte (Savoie), excavation of the Lyon-Turin base tunnel resumed. On this lot located on the French part of the site, it is planned to dig, using the traditional method, a gallery 1.2 km long in land subject to strong geological convergence. "When the excavation halt was announced in mid-March 2020, we did not know how the situation would develop, especially if we were to stop construction in the following weeks. As a precaution, we temporarily stopped our excavation front. To do this, we installed bolts on the excavated walls, then we sprayed a large thickness of concrete in order to stabilize the front, ”says Salvatore Maurredu speaking to Le Moniteur.

Now new procedures in place against the coronavirus spread. When the personnel is transported to the building site, only one person sits per row. Bus driver disinfects the steering wheel and instruments after each ride. Each worker is admitted after measuring their temperature. Kissing and handshakes are forbidden. Hands are washed once every hour. There is always 1 meter separation between the people. When people have to work together, they have to wear FFP2 or FFP3 mask, gloves and visor. After each task, disposable protectors are thrown away. Clothes washed at at least 60 degrees Celsius. There is also a COVID-19 responsible person for the site who checks the compliance. Fogging machines are turned of not to encourage the spread of virus.

https://www.lemoniteur.fr/article/l-excavation-du-tunnel-du-lyon-turin-reprend-sous-haute-surveillance-sanitaire.2085326