The A3 motorway is currently being expanded from two to three lanes, with the first new gantries being installed this weekend.
By Sunday evening, a total of four gantries will be erected on the motorway. The first was installed overnight from Friday to Saturday. This gantry, which carries the blue panels with various traffic signs, measures 45m in length and weighs 35 tonnes.
“The dimensions of such a gantry are so large that transporting it to Luxembourg in one piece is impossible”, explains Philippe Theisen, an engineer at the National Roads Authority.
Two massive cranes, each weighing around 300 tonnes, lifted the first gantry off the lorry at around 12.30am and placed it into its final position – a manoeuvre requiring considerable precision.
“These are the first new-generation gantries to be installed on a motorway here in Luxembourg. The current aluminium gantries have reached their limits”, Theisen added.
Work has begun at the Livange interchange. According to Roland Fox, Director of the National Roads Authority, work is set to start in the autumn on the section from Bettembourg towards Livange, where the motorway will be widened and temporary bridges installed. Fox noted that the current bridges, including those under which the Alzette flows, need to be widened and will be completely replaced.
The Dudelange motorway is scheduled to remain closed to traffic until Monday morning. Diversions are in place via the A4 and A6 motorways as well as the Collectrice du Sud.
The expansion of the 13-kilometre-long A3 from two to three lanes is scheduled for full completion by 2030.
