Skip to main content

Austria-Slovenia tunnel project awarded

Construction of the second tube of the Karawanks Tunnel connecting Austria and Slovenia is now going ahead. The work will be headed by Austrian contractors, ARGE Swietelsky Tunnelbau and Swietelsky Baugesellschaft. The 7.8km-long tunnel route runs under the Alpine Karawanks mountain range. The Austrian motorway operator Asfinag is investing around €168 million into the project, while the European Commission is providing €25 million. The work being carried out will include building new rescue routes as wel
August 9, 2018 Read time: 1 min
Construction of the second tube of the Karawanks Tunnel connecting Austria and Slovenia is now going ahead. The work will be headed by Austrian contractors, ARGE Swietelsky Tunnelbau and Swietelsky Baugesellschaft.


The 7.8km-long tunnel route runs under the Alpine Karawanks mountain range. The Austrian motorway operator Asfinag is investing around €168 million into the project, while the European Commission is providing €25 million. The work being carried out will include building new rescue routes as well as installing the latest fire protection facilities and communication systems.

Construction of the first tunnel commences in 1986 and this was opened to traffic in 1991. The tunnel links the Austrian Autobahn A11 from Villach with the A2 highway, running across the border to the Slovenian cities of Kranj and Ljubljana. The road tunnel forms part of the transport axis Munich-Salzburg-Ljubljana-Thessaloniki, also called Pan-European Corridor-X.

Related Content

  • Managing urban motorway complexity in Sydney
    October 4, 2012
    Sydney’s Hills M2 motorway is being widened while still carrying traffic and meeting tough environmental criteria More than 100,000 vehicles and over 27,000 bus commuters use the Hills M2 motorway on a typical workday, making it one of Sydney’s busiest motorway corridors. Owned and managed by Hills Motorway Ltd (HML) and a key part of the city’s orbital motorway network, the road stretches over 21km, providing a seamless link between the Lane Cove Tunnel and Westlink M7. The Hills M2 Upgrade is one of many
  • Upper Austria road improvements planned
    April 5, 2019
    Road improvements worth €141 million are planned for Upper Austria during 2019. The budget has been set by Austria’s road company, Asfinag. One of the key projects will be the upgrading work to the Voest Bridge in the city of Linz. In addition, the western ring road around Linz will also be improved. The aim of this work is to boost capacity for the city as traffic volumes are expected to increase substantially in and around the city. Over the coming six years, Asfinag will invest €940 million in Upper Aust
  • Lima's massive $2 billion airport project
    March 4, 2025
    Peru’s capital, Lima, is to benefit from a massive new international airport, which will be one of the largest in Latin America – Mike Woof writes
  • Major fleet
    February 6, 2012
    POLAND'S new A1 highway is the country's biggest road project at present and when complete, it will run 568km north to south from Gdansk to Gorzyczki, cutting the journey time from 10-6 hours. The project is a key one for Poland's economy and the highway will provide a vital new link for cross-country truck transport. This route forms part of the Trans-European Transport route connecting Norway with Greece, and work started in October 2005 on the first 100km phase, which was