Refurbishment of tunnels on the autobahn and main road network - Experience and requirements in the view of the road operator

The ASFINAG operates an extensive network of about 2,175 km of important roads in Austria. The oldest routes date from the 1940s, and the average age of the roads is about 30 years. The ASFINAG also operates about 150 tunnel systems with a total length of about 350 km of tunnel, with 17 single-bore tunnels still carrying 2-way traffic. The lifetime of the structures is indeed relatively high but changed requirements for road safety and new standards for the fitting out of tunnels can make refurbishment or upgrading of the tunnels necessary. Since the tragic events of the Tauern Tunnel fire in 1999, about 4 billion Euros have been invested in the safety of tunnels, with a further approx. 1.4 billion planned for the next few years. The safety technology in all tunnels on Trans-European (TEN) routes have to be upgraded by the end of 2019. From the point of view of operation, long lifetime and maintenance freedom are the most important factors, in order not to impair road safety and not to unnecessarily affect the availability for road users (customers). The road tunnel safety law (STSG) requires additional measures of constructional, electrical, ventilation and control technology for the upgrading of road safety. © 2014 Ernst & Sohn Verlag für Architektur und technische Wissenschaften GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin.