Skip to main content

Austrian highway firm opposing larger trucks

Concern has been expressed in Austria over the potential costs of upgrading the country’s road network to cope with 60tonne trucks measuring up to 25.5m long. The introduction of these massive ‘gigaliners’ has been proposed across the EC. But Austrian highway operator Asfinag has said that upgrading the country’s roads, highways, bridges and tunnels to make them suitable for gigaliners would cost some €5.4 billion. Asfinag has also expressed its concern over the safety issues surrounding these vehicles due
May 2, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
Concern has been expressed in Austria over the potential costs of upgrading the country’s road network to cope with 60tonne trucks measuring up to 25.5m long.

The introduction of these massive ‘gigaliners’ has been proposed across the EC. But Austrian highway operator 4178 Asfinag has said that upgrading the country’s roads, highways, bridges and tunnels to make them suitable for gigaliners would cost some €5.4 billion. Asfinag has also expressed its concern over the safety issues surrounding these vehicles due to their size and weight. Vulnerable road users such as motorcyclists, cyclists and pedestrians are thought to be at particular risk should such vehicles be introduced.

The Austrian minister for transport, Doris Bures, is also against the introduction of gigaliners to the country. The possibility of these giant trucks being introduced has also been causing concern in a number of other European nations but it is of note that a leading highway operator in Austria should be against these vehicles.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • ERIC 2016: What shape the ‘Smart Road’?
    February 7, 2017
    Optimism about the future of highways worldwide abounded at the inaugural European Road Infrastructure Conference (ERIC) in Leeds, UK. Around 500 delegates passed through the varied sessions during the three-day event at the Royal Armouries Museum in the northern English city of Leeds. They came away with many visions of what a motorway and road could look like. But what speakers at the event - co-organised by the Brussels-based European Union Road Federation (ERF) and the UK’s Road Safety Markings Associat
  • US$4 billion bridge and highway project
    June 14, 2024
    A US$4 billion bridge replacement and highway upgrade project is planned for the US.
  • Montreal’s new Champlain Bridge is shaping up for Christmas
    September 10, 2018
    Montreal’s Champlain Bridges - one going up, one coming down, reports David Arminas The importance of the new Champlain Bridge to Montreal and Canada can’t be overstated, given the crumbling nature of the not-so-old original Champlain Bridge. The original steel truss affair across the St Lawrence River and the adjacent St Lawrence Seaway canal is “a lifeline for residents and businesses” in greater Montréal, according to the national Auditor General - the public sector spending watchdog. “It accommodates
  • Increased mobility for Mexico
    June 14, 2012
    Urban mobility is high on the infrastructure agenda in Mexico. Business News Americas spoke with Salvador Herrera, executive director of the Centre for Sustainable Transport (CTS), about the elements of a sustainable transport system and Mexico City's addiction to the car At the heart of Mexico City's transport policy is a contradiction that is typical of the country as a whole. The government is spending big on Line 12 of the metro system and has introduced the first Metrobús bus rapid transit (BRT) l