Bundesautobahn 81
Encyclopedia
is a motorway in Germany
. It branches off the A 3 at the Würzburg
-West triangle and ends near the border to Switzerland
.
The oldest part of the A 81 between the Weinsberg
intersection (A 6
) near Heilbronn
and the Leonberg
triangle (A 8
) near Stuttgart
was finished in the years 1938 to 1940. This section included the first tunnel built for an autobahn, the 300 m long first Engelberg tunnel
near Leonberg. When Weinsberg-Leonberg was upgraded to 3+3 lanes in the 1970s, the tunnel with its two lanes each and steep grades (up to 6%) became something of a bottleneck. In 1999 a new 2,530 m long Engelberg tunnel was opened.
Original plans called for the A 81 to be continued northwards skirting the north-west of Würzburg to join up with the A 7, but these plans were later abandoned. Instead, the A 81 shares a part of the A 8 to the Stuttgart intersection and then continues south on a motorway that was built as A 831 to Gärtringen, where it meets the original line again at a partly finished intersection. As a result of this change of plans, Gärtringen became one of the few exits in the German autobahn network that leave to the left.
Further south, the terrain required some spectacular engineering, including a 900 m long bridge near Horb that spans 125 m above the Neckar
river. Currently, the A 81 ends near Singen
.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. It branches off the A 3 at the Würzburg
Würzburg
Würzburg is a city in the region of Franconia which lies in the northern tip of Bavaria, Germany. Located at the Main River, it is the capital of the Regierungsbezirk Lower Franconia. The regional dialect is Franconian....
-West triangle and ends near the border to Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
.
The oldest part of the A 81 between the Weinsberg
Weinsberg
Weinsberg is a town in the north of the German state Baden-Württemberg. It was founded ca. 1200 and is situated in the Heilbronn district. The town has about 11,800 inhabitants. It is noted for its wine...
intersection (A 6
Bundesautobahn 6
, also known as Via Carolina is a 477 km long German autobahn. It starts at the French border near Saarbrücken in the west and end at the Czech border near Waidhaus in the east....
) near Heilbronn
Heilbronn
Heilbronn is a city in northern Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is completely surrounded by Heilbronn County and with approximately 123.000 residents, it is the sixth-largest city in the state....
and the Leonberg
Leonberg
Leonberg is a town in the German federal state of Baden-Wuerttemberg about 10 miles to the west of Stuttgart, the state capital. Approximately 45,000 people live in Leonberg, making it the third biggest borough in the rural district of Böblingen .Leonberg is most famous for its picturesque market...
triangle (A 8
Bundesautobahn 8
is an autobahn in southern Germany that runs 497 km from the Luxembourg A13 motorway at Schengen via Neunkirchen, Pirmasens, Karlsruhe, Stuttgart, Ulm, Augsburg and Munich to the Austrian West Autobahn near Salzburg....
) near Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
was finished in the years 1938 to 1940. This section included the first tunnel built for an autobahn, the 300 m long first Engelberg tunnel
Engelberg tunnel
The Engelberg Tunnel is a motorway tunnel on the German A81 Autobahn just to the west of Stuttgart on the outskirts of Leonberg. During World War II it was used as a Nazi forced labor factory for the manufacture and storage of aircraft parts....
near Leonberg. When Weinsberg-Leonberg was upgraded to 3+3 lanes in the 1970s, the tunnel with its two lanes each and steep grades (up to 6%) became something of a bottleneck. In 1999 a new 2,530 m long Engelberg tunnel was opened.
Further south, the terrain required some spectacular engineering, including a 900 m long bridge near Horb that spans 125 m above the Neckar
Neckar
The Neckar is a long river, mainly flowing through the southwestern state of Baden-Württemberg, but also a short section through Hesse, in Germany. The Neckar is a major right tributary of the River Rhine...
river. Currently, the A 81 ends near Singen
Singen
Singen is an industrial city in the very south of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany and just north of the German-Swiss border.-Location:...
.