The tunnel is scheduled to be completed and put into operation by the end of 2025. The approximately 7.9-kilometer-long tube between Carinthia and Slovenia is intended to connect the Karawanks Autobahn (A11) and the Slovenian Avtocesta (A2) under the mountain massif and relieve the notorious traffic jam.
Following a Europe-wide tender, the major contract for equipping the tunnel with the latest safety equipment was awarded to Strabag, which will equip the entire tunnel with the operating and safety equipment by the end of 2025. This includes lighting, ventilation, fire monitoring, fire extinguishing water systems, traffic lights, escape route markings, video surveillance, all sensor technology and power supply. Furthermore, all new systems will be integrated into the operation of the two monitoring centers in Klagenfurt of Asfinag and in Hrušica of the Slovenian motorway operator DARS.
Work will begin at the end of 2024 in the Austrian part of the tunnel, which is already structurally complete. From 2025, following structural completion, work will also begin in the Slovenian part. The new tunnel tube is expected to be opened to traffic and operated in two-way traffic from the end of 2025. The old tunnel tube, which was opened in 1991, will then be closed and completely renovated by the end of 2028 and also equipped with the latest safety technology. The Slovenian part is being built by the Turkish construction company Cengiz; the start of construction was initially delayed due to problems with the awarding of contracts and then due to the corona pandemic.
During the construction of the second tube of the Karawanks Tunnel, the breakthrough was achieved on the Slovenian side of the tunnel in March 2024 following around three and a half years of construction. The advance had been delayed due to difficult geological conditions; the breakthrough was originally expected in autumn 2023. The entire tunnel is 7.9 kilometres long, of which 3,546 metres are on Slovenian territory.
