Workers at the limit

Record damage to roads: “Have to triage”

The storms are stretching road maintenance companies to the limit. The picture shows Styrian regional geologist Franz Nöhrer.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/,Krone KREATIV)

Floods, windthrows, rockfalls, landslides: Road maintenance companies have been going through the motions for months; there is no longer a classic storm season, they say. In Styria, a new record level of damage has been recorded and employees are increasingly reaching their limits.

"I spent the whole day today just trying to find a specialist company to help us repair the damaged section of the B146," says Franz Nöhrer, Head of the Structural Maintenance and Geotechnical Engineering Department at the Province of Styria. The Gesäuse road had to be closed to traffic after a rockfall near Hieflau/Gstatterboden. Anyone familiar with the National Park region knows what this means for residents and visitors: long detours.