The Green Gantry rings in the next phase of sustainable traffic infrastructure
- Wooden Gantry boasts superior environmental impact
- First Green Gantry installed on Kapsch TrafficCom test track in Teesdorf (Lower Austria)
Vienna, February 23, 2023 – Gray steel or aluminium gantries for stationary toll systems on highways have been the industry standard for decades. However, the negative impact of steel on the environment and climate is clear, which is why Kapsch TrafficCom has developed the Green Gantry, an alternative hybrid design based on wood instead of metal that can reduce metal consumption to a minimum. The Kapsch TrafficCom test track in Teesdorf (Lower Austria) is now home to the first Green Gantry, which sets new standards for sustainable infrastructure.
The Green Gantry is comparable in quality and cost to a conventional gantry. Since wood has up to a twenty-fold lower CO2 footprint compared to steel, the environmental impact is reduced with the Green Gantry compared to conventional gantries. Even when dismantling the gantry, it does not pollute the environment as no harmful chemical substances are used to treat the wood. In addition to its environmental benefits, the Green Gantry also meets all relevant European norms and standards and features a lifespan of over 20 years.
To bring the Green Gantry to life, Kapsch TrafficCom initiated a research project that is funded by the Waldfonds, an initiative of the Austrian Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Regions and Water Management and is carried out as part of the Think.Wood programme of the Austrian Wood initiative. The research project is led by the Institute of Timber Engineering and Wood Technology at Graz University of Technology. Other research and development partners include laminated timber specialist HASSLACHER NORICA TIMBER and traffic infrastructure provider Forster. The design of the Green Gantry was developed together with the civil engineering firm freiraum ZT gmbh, which also calculated the structural framework.
Over the next two years, the specifications and characteristics of the Green Gantry will be monitored at the site in Teesdorf as part of the project in order to ensure impeccable quality performance in the future.
Kapsch TrafficCom is a globally renowned provider of transportation solutions for sustainable mobility with successful projects in more than 50 countries. Innovative solutions in the application fields of tolling, tolling services, traffic management and demand management contribute to a healthy world without congestion.
With one-stop-shop-solutions, the company covers the entire value chain of customers, from components to design and implementation to the operation of systems.
Kapsch TrafficCom, headquartered in Vienna, has subsidiaries and branches in more than 25 countries and is listed in the Prime Market segment of the Vienna Stock Exchange (ticker symbol: KTCG). In its 2021/22 financial year, 4,220 employees generated revenues of about EUR 520 million.