REGIONAL REPORTAUSTRIA & SWITZERLAND


so pessimistic,” said Keller. “OK, the oil and gas and mining sectors are very bad. Fracht is trying to get more into the oil and gas market, but now is not the right time. In Switzerland there are not many projects, but we are in a good position.”


Infrastructure “The government is not making our lives easier,” said Jörg Senn at Senn. He was referring to the lack of investment in infrastructure in Switzerland. “Weight limits have already been lowered on a lot of bridges, especially on the motorways. They close off exit points so we have to go several kilometres further to get off the motorway and then drive back to the construction site. This is because we are not allowed to go over certain bridges with our gross weight. “Bridges and the infrastructure


are getting old in Switzerland and they hope they can stretch out the lifetime of these bridges a little longer. It adds a lot of time and costs for us. We have to work more for less money anyway. Now we have to drive further for less money, and we do not get that back from our customers.” Many years ago special roads


were assigned for heavy loads, he said. “But somehow politicians forgot about this sector and now, if you have to move very heavy loads around, you have big problems getting permits. “The guys who did that


[permits] before have retired and the know-how has not been passed on. Today, the situation is that nobody wants to take over responsibility for this. We usually will find a solution, but it is hassle. In the past, you signed a piece of paper and you got a permit because you knew exactly what you could and could not do. So when you filled in the application, you knew what to write and that it would usually be granted.”


River transport In Austria, it is no surprise that the deepening of the Danube remains the big issue. “Our topography means that we have a lot of limitations that we have to respect, and producers already know that, so units are built taking account of the infrastructure,” said Franco


www.heavyliftpfi.com January/February 2017 93


There is a lot of pressure on the Austrian government... to make a common effort to dredge the navigation line and allow bigger ships to travel. – Franco Ravazzolo, Gebrüder Weiss


Ravazzolo of Gebrüder Weiss. “But for heavy, long and high, the river is a must. We have this running problem of the Upper Danube, where the water level is often not enough to allow free navigation; there is a lot of pressure on the Austrian government, and also


neighbouring companies on the Danube, to make a common effort to dredge the navigation channel and allow bigger ships to travel. “There are times when it is very tricky


and we have to reduce the draught of the river vessel – this means we have to carry less tonnes, therefore making transport more expensive. “The size of river vessels has increased


but the biggest are very difficult to navigate on the Danube. Austria itself is doing something with the ongoing dredging south of Vienna, but it is definitely not enough, and is only a section of the Danube.”


HLPFI


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124  |  Page 125  |  Page 126  |  Page 127  |  Page 128  |  Page 129  |  Page 130  |  Page 131  |  Page 132  |  Page 133  |  Page 134  |  Page 135  |  Page 136  |  Page 137  |  Page 138  |  Page 139  |  Page 140  |  Page 141  |  Page 142  |  Page 143  |  Page 144  |  Page 145  |  Page 146  |  Page 147  |  Page 148