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

  • New highways to improve Austria's connections
    March 6, 2012
    A massive highway project will boost Austria's international links. The €933 million Ostergion PPP motorway project is one of the largest PPP projects currently in operation in Europe. The financers of the project are AMBAC and EIB, while the routine maintenance activities are headed by Egis. The project intends to ease congestion Austria's capital, Vienna, improve commuter traffic, enhance road connections between Austria and the Czech Republic and increase safety on congested B roads around the country.
    Read More
  • Tunnel Boom in Central and Eastern Europe
    September 15, 2015
    Following the success of the 41st World Tunnel Congress held in Croatia last May, World Highways looks at two signi_ cant projects in Slovakia and Serbia – Adriana Potts reports Central and Eastern Europe is buzzing with a number of major projects being developed - including highways, bridges and tunnels – and with many more in the pipeline. The region is expected to be highly active with plans for developing infrastructure in the next two decades, according to Davorin Koli , president of the Croatian
    Read More
  • Bosnia-Herzegovina motorway first
    July 5, 2012
    THE EBRD (European Bank for Reconstruction and Development) is increasing its support for the modernisation of the transport infrastructure of Bosnia-Herzegovina with a €21 million loan for the completion of the construction of the Banja Luka-Gradiska motorway. The motorway, being built with financing from both the EBRD and the European Investment Bank (EIB), is the first in the Republika Srpska, and links the capital Banja Luka with the international transport Corridor X [a pan- European corridor which run
    Read More
  • EU funds study to improve Slovenia's roads
    May 10, 2012
    The European Union has awarded €2 million of TEN-T (Trans-European Transport Network) financing to a study which aims at finalising the design of 13km section of motorway in Slovenia. It will complete a missing link of the Slovenian road network and positively impact mobility to and from the Balkans and Central Europe.
    Read More

Highlighted Content