Experience with Rehabilitation and Reconstruction of Old Concrete Motorways In Austria

The 300 km Al Westautobahn between Vienna and Salzburg has reached an age of between 30 to 40 years. 10 years ago, systematic reconstruction of the concrete pavement was initiated. To date, 180 km of carriageway, i.e. 31%, have been completed. Initially, the new asphalt or concrete structure was mostly placed onto the existing pavement, the cross-section of the roadway was retained and only the most urgent work done to bridges. Owing to unexpectedly strong growth in traffic over the past 10 years, many stretches now have to be widened to 6 lanes. Following the devclopment of construction methods for concrete pavements using recycled material and a low-noise surface, the preferred choice today is full-depth reconstruction of concrete pavements. Bridges were found to be a particularly sensitive cost factor.