Conversion of Klagenfurt Bypass Tunnels to LED Lighting

In November, Austria‘s ASFINAG (Motorway and Expressway Financing Joint-Stock Company) launched the installation of state-of-the-art LED tunnel lighting along a total of 11 km of the Klagenfurt northern bypass on the A 2 Südautobahn motorway. In the tunnels Ehrentalerberg, Lendorf, Trettning and Falkenberg the old lamps were replaced by almost 2300 LED lights. ASFINAG is investing four million euros in this conversion to energy-saving LED lighting.

Gradual Conversion of All ASFINAG Tunnels

This technology, which is gradually being rolled out by ASFINAG in all 166 tunnels of the Austrian motorway network, has several advantages: For drivers, LED provides better and more pleasant light when travelling through the tunnel. But the modern lighting also means a reduction of up to 40% in electricity consumption. „With this conversion, we can save more than 980 000 kilowatt hours of electricity per year,“ says the responsible ASFINAG department head Rene List about the conversion of the Klagenfurt northern bypass. Another advantage of LED is the possibility of precisely directing light onto the carriageway – a positive factor for road safety.

Lights with LED technology and the electronics required for them are temperature-sensitive. ASFINAG has now also developed lights with very high output for entrance lighting, with the focus on reusing the existing housings.  This saves additional costs, and the conversion can be implemented with significantly fewer closures. A conversion of the entire lighting system to LED can only be carried out without traffic. The northern bypass of Klagenfurt was therefore closed for a total of 16 nights.