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.

Finance & Funding

Related Content

  • Colombia’s Toyo Tunnel project in hand
    May 31, 2019
    Progress is being made for Colombia’s Toyo Tunnel project. Around 20% of the work has been carried out. Building the tunnel and the first stage of the connecting highway sections in Antioquia includes the construction of 17 bridges, seven tunnel sections and 4.4km of road. Tendering for the second stage of the project is due to start soon and will include building a further 19.4km of highway. The Toyo Tunnel project and the entire highway was originally expected to cost US$603.5 million but is now expected
    Read More
  • Vietnam road projects underway
    February 5, 2021
    Key Vietnam road projects are currently underway.
    Read More
  • Lindsay argues the case for reversible lanes over adding lanes
    June 26, 2018
    Build new lanes or use existing lanes more effectively? In a recent US study* commissioned by Lindsay Transportation Solutions, the company argues the case for reversible lanes. The level of future uncertainty in transportation planning - specifically in addressing congestion on urban freeways - has increased significantly over the past few years. The impact of connected and autonomous vehicles on traffic flow, of Mobility as a Service (MaaS) initiatives, particularly the car-sharing elements, and exciting
    Read More
  • New Polish motorway opens to traffic
    August 7, 2019
    A new section of Poland’s important A1 motorway project is now open to traffic. The 33km stretch connects Pyrzowice with Czestochowa in southern Poland. This forms part of a project to build a 58km section of the A1 route, with an expected cost of €696 million. Improving transport connections with Pyrzowice is important for southern Poland as the town is the location of the airport serving the nearby industrial city of Katowice, as well as Czestochowa. The A1 motorway connects the port of Gdansk in Poland’
    Read More

Highlighted Content