A12 motorway (Switzerland)

The A12 motorway, an Autobahn in western Switzerland, is a divided highway connecting the A9 to the A1.

The A12 runs from the A9 in Vevey along the Freiburger Alps via Fribourg to the A1 in Bern and thus represents an important link to Western Switzerland. The A12 acts as the main route of the Canton of Freiburg and crosses the Canton area in the diagonal of Chatel-Saint-Denis (in the southwest) to the Flamatt in the northeast. Since 1981, the entire highway has been open to traffic. A scenic location on the Lac de la Gruyère is the resting place de Gruyère, with its adjacent hotel.

The A12 travels from the junction of the A9 La Veyre on a plateau (500 m above sea level) over Vevey. During the first 5.5 kilometres (3.4 mi), the highway rises along the eastern flank of the Veveyse up to 820 metres (2,690 ft) above sea level and forms a sharp S-curve. This highway section, with an average gradient of 5.8% (and maximum gradients over 6%), is one of the steepest stretches of motorway in the Swiss national road network. After the ascent portion, the canyon of Veveyse de Fégire is crossed by a bridge. Once reaching the plateau of Haute Veveyse, at the foot of the Alps, the road has only small differences in height. The culminating point is located, at an altitude of 866 metres (2,841 ft) above sea level, at Weiler Prayoud northeast of Chatel-Saint-Denis. Here are the main European watershed between the Rhone with the catchment area of the Veveyse, and passes the Rhine (with the catchment areas of Broye and Sarine).

At a length of 15 kilometres (9.3 mi), the A12 now runs at an altitude of about 800 metres (2,600 ft) above sea level, before it reaches the Gruyère region and the basin of Bulle. It then runs between the reservoir Lac de la Gruyère and the heights of the Gibloux to the north. At Gumefens and Avry-devant-Pont there are two Tagbau-tunnels. North of the latter is the most important building of the A12, the approximately 2-km long Viaduc du Lac de la Gruyère, constructed during the years 1974-1979 in a sweeping curve to the western valley side, spanning two short arms of the Lac de la Gruyère.

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Wikipedia