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
March 22, 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

  • State-of-the art road tunnels in construction and use of ITS
    April 25, 2013
    A wealth of major road tunnel construction projects and significant cant ITS installations within existing key road tunnels have been recently completed or will soon be underway. Guy Woodford examines some of them. A state-of-the art Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) - the 10th largest ever to be built worldwide will be put to work later this year on New Zealand Transport Agency’s landmark Waterview Connection project in Auckland. The giant Herrenknecht-manufactured machine will be used to construct the twin 2.5
  • The road to climate change mitigation starts at Highways UK
    February 17, 2020
    David Arminas explored climate change innovation on display at Highways UK in Birmingham, England
  • Mexico has plans for massive infrastructure investment
    July 19, 2013
    Mexico’s Government has plans for a massive programme of infrastructure improvements across the country. In all some US$314 billion will be invested in infrastructure, of which $47 billion will be targeted at improving the country’s transportation network. Mexico’s national transport and communications ministry, SCT, will manage the projects which include works for highways and airports. The plans are expected to include a combination of private and public funding sources, although further details have yet
  • Taking the coast road on Reunion Island
    April 4, 2017
    An ambitious project on Reunion Island will improve transport