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In 2000 the old tunnel was ranked as the most dangerous tunnel in Europe due to the lack of security and emergency facilities. Construction of the new tunnel began in
January 2002 and the work was temporarily stopped in winter 2005–2006 because the project had to be adjusted due to new safety laws.
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At the beginning of the 1980s the tunnel was reinforced, new asphalt was laid and new lighting installed. Curved concrete walls were built at both ends to avoid excessive air flow. During the 1980s and 1990s the tunnel began to struggle to meet the needs of the increasing vehicular traffic. The
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period from 1936 to 1939. The tunnel was opened in 1948, drastically reducing the time required to access the valley and was at the time the longest road tunnel in the world. Heavy winter snowfall could still force the tunnel to close.
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had the idea of building a tunnel. That same year, two French engineers, Auriol and
Partiot, prepared the first plans. Construction finally started in 1926 and lasted 22 years, including the
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Before the 20th century, the Aran valley was not easily accessible from the rest of Spain, especially during the winter snow season, when the Vielha
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project of building a parallel new tunnel was requested in 1989 and approved in 1997. In 1999, after the
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The new tunnel, named Juan Carlos I Tunnel in honour of
Spanish king
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El túnel vell de Viella s'obre a les mercaderies perilloses
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and consists of two parallel tunnels. The older one, named
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198:El túnel de Vielha es el mes perillós d'Europa.
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137:accident, the project was accelerated.
213:Page with New Vielha Tunnel information
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101:in honour of the Spanish king
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242:World's longest road tunnel
33:2011 image of the new tunnel
22:2005 image of the old tunnel
174:Guinness World Records 2015
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86:in honour of Spanish king
325:Tunnels completed in 2007
320:Tunnels completed in 1948
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216:(in Spanish and English)
120:In 1830, the politician
26:Road tunnel in Catalonia
251:Great St Bernard Tunnel
92:Great St Bernard Tunnel
97:The new tunnel, named
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305:Road tunnels in Spain
67:, the capital of the
63:in Spain, connecting
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99:Juan Carlos I Tunnel
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84:Alfonso XIII Tunnel
281:42.6247°N 0.7646°E
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255:5.80 km (3.60 mi)
248:Succeeded by
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236:3.24 km (2.01 mi)
183:978-1-908843-62-3
135:Mont Blanc Tunnel
126:Spanish Civil War
71:valley, with the
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232:Queensway Tunnel
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57:Túnel de Viella
48:Tunèl de Vielha
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61:road tunnel
310:Val d'Aran
299:Categories
269:42°37′29″N
245:1948–1964
149:References
80:N-230 road
272:0°45′53″E
224:Records
109:History
76:comarca
59:) is a
53:Catalan
43:Aranese
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65:Vielha
178:ISBN
69:Aran
37:The
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41:(
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