Brenner Autobahn Eastern Alps; this favourable location was therefore suitable for building the first motorway crossing among the Alpine main chains. Unlike other higher passes across the Alps, the Brenner Pass remains open all-year round and through the winter months. Construction of the motorway began in 1959 and the "Brenner Autobahn", including the Bridge of Europe (Europe's highest motorway bridge then), was partially open in 1963. The A13 begins in the south of Innsbruck from the east-west motorway A12 Inntal Autobahn ("Inn Valley Motorway"), which links Bregenz in western Austria to Kufstein near the border of Bavaria in Germany. At above sea,
Fern Pass winter. Today's road is known as the "Fernpass Straße" (B 179). It connects Reutte through the Lermoos tunnel with Tarrenz and Imst. Via B 187 and B 189, it also leads to Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Germany. It also connects the Lech River valley with the Inn River valley. Therefore, it carries more traffic than almost any other pass in the eastern Alps, except the Brenner Pass. The steepest gradient is 8 percent, and the elevation gain from Reutte to the pass is 359 m. On the other side to Telfs, the elevation gain is 579 m. Fern Pass Fern Pass (elevation