There he cleared away the snow and erected a camp; all the infantry were then brought down into the pass and set to work to build up a road along the side of the ravine.
The engineers with fire and explosives blasted away the foot of the cliffs; the infantry broke up the rocks and formed a level track.

All night the work continued, the troops relieving each other at frequent intervals, and by the morning a path which could be traversed by men on foot, horses, and baggage animals was constructed for a distance of three hundred yards, beyond which the obstacle which had arrested the advance of the army did not continue.
The cavalry, baggage animals, and a portion of the infantry at once continued their way down the valley, while the rest of the infantry remained behind to widen the road sufficiently for the elephants to pass along.

Although the work was pressed on with the greatest vigour it needed three days of labour in all before the elephants could be passed through.

The animals were by this time weak with hunger, for from the time when they had turned aside from the valley of the Isere the Alps had been wholly bare of trees, and the ground being covered with snow, no foliage or forage had been obtainable to eke out the store of flour which they carried for their consumption.

Nor was any wood found with which to manufacture the flat cakes into which the flour was formed for their rations.
The elephants once through, the march was continued, and, joining the troops in advance, who had halted in the woods below the snow level, the column continued its march.