National roads Almost every fifth tunnel has moderate damage

According to the Federal Roads Office (Astra), the national roads are in good condition overall. However, almost one in five tunnels showed moderate damage. However, safety is guaranteed.

Six tunnels were in a poor condition and would therefore have to be renovated in the medium term, Astra announced on Thursday. None of the tunnels are in an alarming, i.e. non-operational, condition.

However, the operating and safety equipment (OSE) such as cable systems, lighting and signaling in the Neuenhof and Baregg tunnels in the canton of Aargau were in an alarming condition at the end of 2023. These two tunnels are currently being extensively renovated, Astra writes further.

Almost nine percent of the engineering structures such as bridges and galleries showed moderate damage. However, this had no impact on load-bearing and traffic safety.

The structural and traffic safety of around 0.7 percent of the structures in a poor condition is also guaranteed. However, they would have to be renovated or replaced in the next few years.

In the case of the roadways, 97 percent were assessed as being in a good or acceptable condition.

Last year, around 1.2 billion Swiss francs were invested in the maintenance of national roads, Astra writes further. This amount is in line with the average of the past ten years. According to Astra, the replacement value of the motorway network amounts to 141 billion Swiss francs.

SDA