Tauern Road Tunnel
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 North portal | |
 Interactive map of Tauern Road Tunnel | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Location | Salzburg, Austria |
| Coordinates | 47°12′11″N 13°25′41″E / 47.2031611111°N 13.4279694444°E |
| Route | Flachau—Zederhaus |
| Operation | |
| Work begun | 28 January 1971 |
| Opened | 21 June 1975 |
| Operator | ASFiNAG |
| Traffic | ca. 18,000 road vehicles daily |
| Technical | |
| Length | 6,546 metres (21,476 ft) |
| No. of lanes | 4 |
| Operating speed | 100 kilometres per hour (62 mph) |
The Tauern Road Tunnel is located on the Tauern Autobahn (A10) in the Austrian federal state of Salzburg. The use is subject to a toll. With a length of 6,546 m (21,476 ft) (3.07 miles), the tunnel ranks as one of the longest frequently-travelled road tunnels in Austria.
The tunnel crosses under the Radstadt Tauern range, the westernmost part of the larger Low Tauern group. The north portal is in the municipality of Flachau in St. Johann im Pongau District (Pongau region), while the southern entrance is in Zederhaus in the Salzburg district of Tamsweg (Lungau). The nearby Radstädter Tauern Pass, about 8 km (5.0 mi) to the east, has historically been a possible crossing point of the Alpine crest.
A nearby historic adit in the Schladming Tauern at a height of 2,300 m (7,500 ft), connecting the present-day states of Salzburg and Styria, originates from medieval times when zinc, silver, cobalt and lead were mined here. A more exact dating of the Zinkwand drift is not possible. The tunnel is only 300 m (980 ft) long and was made accessible by the Austrian Alpine Club.
The road tunnel should not be confused with the parallel Tauern Rail Tunnel which crosses the High Tauern range between Bad Gastein in Salzburg and Mallnitz in Carinthia, taking both standard rail passengers as well as car shuttle trains between the two locations.
Construction
Planned as a two bore tunnel from the beginning, the first bore of the Tauern Road Tunnel was completed in 1975 with a total length of 6,301 m (20,673 ft). Plans for the construction of the second, parallel tube were abandoned in 1988 and not resumed until the 1999 fire disaster (see below).
Extension
Works on the second tube began in July 2006; completed on 30 April 2010, they were followed by a general refurbishment of the older first bore. The two-tube tunnel was officially opened with a ceremony on 30 June 2011.[1][2]
Today the Austrian Tauern Autobahn is an important north-south transport route through the Eastern Alps connecting Germany with Italy and Slovenia. In 2013, the average daily traffic passing the tunnel was about 18,000 vehicles, a quarter of which were large goods vehicles and trucks. The toll is 6 euros per car; a journey through the Tauern Tunnel and the adjacent Katschberg Tunnel costs 12 euros.[3]
