Unlike conventional toll gantries made from steel or aluminum, the Green Gantry is constructed from renewable timber. According to Kapsch, the sustainable material not only supports the same functional capabilities as conventional gantries but also provides notable environmental benefits.

For example, the Green Gantry in Carinthia reportedly saves 15 tons of CO2, while comparable steel gantries are said to cause up to 30 tons of CO2 during production.

Michael Weber, head of sales EMENA at Kapsch TrafficCom, said: “Our Green Gantry not only has a positive CO2 balance, it has the same load-bearing capacity and an even better environmental impact as a traditional gantry.

“In addition, it meets all relevant European norms and standards for gantries, so it is equally safe to deploy and to maintain, and after its lifetime of at least 20 years, it can be dismantled and re-used without causing additional pollution.”

The load-bearing core and, therefore the majority, of the new gantry is made of glued and laminated spruce timber. Weather-resistant larch wood was used for the outer layer, which can be repaired in case of damage.

The gantry’s highly prefabricated wood construction was completed and delivered to the building site by the Hasslacher group. Installation of the gantry on the highway was managed by ASFiNAG and traffic technology specialist Forster. Due to the gantry’s high degree of prefabrication, installation reportedly took only one day.

Electricity for operating the gantry equipment comes from its own photovoltaic system. In order to ensure system functionality in bad weather and at night, a battery storage system was also installed.