Report: one in five Swiss tunnels damaged, but safe

Almost one in five tunnels has moderate damage but they are safe, Switzerland's Federal Roads Office said on Thursday. Keystone-SDA

According to the Federal Roads Office (Astra), Switzerland's roads are in good condition overall. Almost one in five tunnels has moderate damage but they are safe, it said on Thursday.

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Six tunnels were in a poor condition and would therefore have to be renovated in the medium term, Astra said. No tunnel is in an alarming, i.e. non-operational, condition.

But operating and safety equipment such as cable systems, lighting and signalling in the Neuenhof and Baregg tunnels in canton Aargau were in an alarming condition at the end of 2023. These two tunnels are currently being renovated extensively, Astra said.

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Almost 9% 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% of the structures in a poor condition is also guaranteed. However, they would have to be renovated or replaced in the next few years.

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In the case of the roadways, 97% were in a good or acceptable condition, Astra said.

Last year, around CHF1.2 billion was invested in the maintenance of the national roads, Astra said. This is in line with the average of the past ten years. Astra estimates that the replacement value of the motorway network amounts to a total of CHF141 billion.

Translated from German by DeepL/sb

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