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

  • Italian highway deals moving ahead
    January 21, 2022
    Important Italian highway deals are moving ahead.
  • Mega city transport in Mexico
    June 13, 2012
    Rapid urban growth is resulting in massive mega cities with major transport needs and Mexico City is one of the world’s largest – Mike Woof reports Mexico City is a vast, sprawling metropolis and one of the world’s largest cities, resulting in huge problems for its inhabitants, particularly with regard to infrastructure. Measuring population size is an inexact science for large cities as suburban areas can add to the figures considerably, especially in developing nations where unplanned expansion is as comm
  • Poland: €7.57bn road budget call
    February 20, 2012
    The Polish highway authorities are calling for a road budget of e7.57 billion for 2011, and while this will have to be approved by the government, it is some e1.56 billion lower than originally planned.
  • Bavarian Autobahn bridge repairs
    March 11, 2019
    Austrian contractor STRABAG is heading a consortium that will carry out bridge upgrades on the busy A9 Autobahn connecting Nuremburg with Munich in Bavaria, southern Germany. The eight bridges between the Nuremburg/Feucht interchange and the Hipoltstein junction will be demolished and replaced with new structures. The deal is worth € 38 million and will be handled by the consortium comprising STRABAG, subdivision Bavaria North, and Ed Züblin, Subdivision Bridge Construction. The client for the project is Au