In a move toward more sustainable transportation infrastructures, Kapsch TrafficCom, in collaboration with the road operator ASFINAG, has installed Austria’s first eco-friendly toll gantry in Carinthia. This gantry serves as a groundbreaking alternative to the conventional steel and aluminum structures, which are often associated with high CO2 emissions in both their production and recycling processes.
Constructed primarily of wood, this new gantry maintains all the functional capabilities of its metal counterparts but boasts significant environmental benefits. According to Kapsch TrafficCom, the wooden structure saves up to 15 tons of CO2 compared to the 30 tons produced during the manufacturing of stainless steel gantries. Besides being more eco-friendly, it meets all relevant European regulations and standards, ensuring its safety and functionality.
Javier Aguirre, the General Manager of Kapsch TrafficCom in Spain and Portugal, highlighted the benefits of this innovative gantry, stating, “Our Eco-Friendly Gantry not only has a positive CO2 balance but also offers the same features and is more environmentally friendly than a normal gantry. It meets all the pertinent European norms and standards for toll gantries, making it just as safe to use, easy to maintain, and it can be dismantled and recycled after its lifespan of at least 20 years, without any additional environmental impact.”
The structure of this innovative gantry is mainly made of laminated and glued spruce wood at its core, with a layer of more weather-resistant larch wood on the outside, which facilitates repair in case of damage. To ensure its energy self-sufficiency, the electrical supply comes from solar panels, supported by a battery system to guarantee continuous operation even in adverse weather conditions and during the night.
Hartwig Hufnagl and Herbert Kasser, members of the ASFINAG board, expressed, “For us, sustainable construction is not just an empty slogan; we want to set new standards in this field. Innovation drives us. We believe that wood, as a building material, can play a significant role in the highways of the future.”
This project not only marks a milestone in the evolution of tolling systems but also sets a precedent for the use of sustainable materials in transport infrastructures, indicating a potential path forward for the highways of the future.
