EHighway for electrified truck operation
New contract: EHighway for electrified truck operation
Wayss & Freytag Ingenieurbau has been awarded a contract for the construction of a 7.5 km long eHighway on the A5 near Frankfurt am Main by Siemens Mobility GmbH. The pioneering ELISA III eHighway pilot project is considered a test section with a newly developed basic structure for the operation of electrified load traffic.
Wayss & Freytag Ingenieurbau is extending the existing test section between Frankfurt and Darmstadt. This will involve the erection of around 220 column masts. The contract includes civil engineering work with search shafts, foundations for the pylons, positioning of the pylons and minor civil engineering work.
The eHighway system enables the electric operation of eHighway vehicles via an overhead line. The trucks are equipped with a hybrid motor and can switch completely to electric operation when in contact with the overhead line. This technology could make a significant contribution to making the transport sector more sustainable: Around 7,000,000 tonnes of CO² emissions could be avoided if 30% of heavy goods traffic on German motorways were electrified and powered by renewable energy.
The National Platform for the Future of Mobility (NPM) recommends equipping 300 km of motorways in Germany with overhead line technology by 2023 and electrifying 4,000 km by 2030 in order to achieve the climate target of 40 percent greenhouse gas savings in transport. W&F project manager Steffen Mathes: "We are looking forward to working with Siemens Mobility GmbH, precisely because this is a forward-looking project." Work will start in mid-April 2022, and the test track is scheduled to go into operation at the end of 2022.
