A71 | |
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Bundesautobahn 71 | |
Route information | |
Length: | 220 km (140 mi) |
Major junctions | |
From: | Sangerhausen |
To: | A 70 near Schweinfurt |
Location | |
States: | Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria |
Major cities: |
Artern Heldrungen Kölleda Sömmerda Erfurt Arnstadt Ilmenau Geraberg Oberhof Zella-Mehlis Suhl Meiningen Mellrichstadt Bad Neustadt Münnerstadt Bad Kissingen |
Highway system | |
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Bundesautobahn 71 (translates from German as Federal Motorway 71, short form Autobahn 71, abbreviated as BAB 71 or A 71) is an Autobahn in Germany. It connects the A 38 and Erfurt to the A 70 near Schweinfurt. A further northern extension to the A 14 near Plötzkau has been proposed by the state government of Sachsen-Anhalt.
Construction on the A 71, supervised by DEGES, began in 1996, most parts were being opened by December 2005. The project was completed in September 2015. The section through the Thuringian Forest was the most expensive road ever built in Germany with an average cost of €10 million per kilometre (€16,000,000/mi). This section includes the Rennsteig Tunnel which is the longest road tunnel in Germany at 8 km (5.0 mi) and is called "Thüringer wald Autobahn" (Thuringian Forest Motorway).
While crossing the Thuringian Forest are a lot of large engineering works needed, the most notable are listed in the table below.
A 71 crossing the Wipfratal, rightwards the Nuremberg–Erfurt high-speed railway and their gate to the Sandberg Tunnel
Werratal viaduct near the exit Meiningen-Süd, the longest bridge of the A 71 with a length of 1,194 m (3,917 ft)