A7 (Germany)

The A7 near Hamburg

The A7 in Germany is the longest motorway in Europe at a length of 961 km (597.2 miles). It stretches from the Danish to the Austrian border and passes the cities of Flensburg, Hamburg, Hannover, Kassel, Würzburg and Ulm on its way.

History

Most of the northern half of the A 7 is part of the HaFraBa (an acronym of Hansestädte-Frankfurt-Basel). The HaFraBa was originally a road scheme proposed by private initiative in the 1920s. It became partly reality one decade later when large-scale motorway construction started in Germany. The first section of 77 km opened in 1937 and a second one of 28 km one year later. Soon after World War II motorway construction resumed and by 1962 a continuous motorway linked Hamburg and Frankfurt(Main). Modern day road numbering introduced in the mid 1970s, however, doesn't follow the HaFraBa. This entails two Totsos. The A 7 joins the HaFraBa south of Hamburg at Horst junction and leaves it again in east Hessia at Hattenbach junction.

Notable river crossings

Rader High Bridge

The existing 1,500 m long Rader High Bridge near Rendsburg crosses the Borgstedter Enge as a 15-span steel bridge with span widths between 76 and 221 m, and the Kiel Canal with a clear height of 42 m and a clear width of 216m. It is thus Germany’s second largest steel road bridge. The bridge was completed in 1972 and plays a central role on the autobahn A7 with traffic coming from and going to Denmark and Scandinavia. Due to deficits of the load-bearing capacity the structure only has remaining service life until 2026 and has to be replaced by a new bridge. The new construction comprises two new superstructures per direction, and traffic will be continued during construction. The new alignment is implemented with axle offset in the structure’s area and the bridge’s cross section is widened.

Elbtunnel

The A 7 crosses river Elbe at Hamburg. Allowing for sea ships to reach the port of Hamburg the Elbtunnel was built instead of a bridge. The original three tubes of the tunnel are 3325 m long and were opened in 1975. A fourth tube was added in 2002. Each tube is two lanes wide while the newest one was additionally equipped with a hard shoulder.