They're known as ALARS - Alternate Launch and Recovery Strips, and were a
specific design in several countries which had a concern about being able to
operate from areas other than their main bases after a major invasion/air
attack. They were considered a strategic imperative to be able to defend
the country after the Soviets had taken out all the main base runways.
Germany and Switzerland have already been mentioned; Korea is another one.
They were often located near main bases to reduce the travel from the main
base support facilities to the ALARS. You could tell you were driving on an
ALARS because there were very wide shoulders at either end for servicing and
arming the aircraft as well as parking after missions. If you knew what to
look for you could also identify the barrier installation locations across
the road. Ones I specifically have seen were outside the main gate at
Ramstein and on Highway 1 in Korea, all of which were decommissioned in the
mid-90s.

In ReFORGER (Return of Forces to Germany, a major NATO exercise held every
couple of years during the Cold War) the USAF and Luftwaffe used to exercise
from them routinely during the 70s and 80s (I believe, though I have nothing
other than memories of old photos to back that up).

Shawn

"Markus Voget" wrote in message
...
"Chris" wrote:

"John Galban" wrote in message
ups.com...

In some european countries, major highways were designed to
accomodate military aircraft for use in war time.

Switzerland is one country in particular.

The same is true for Germany. European highways tend to have the lanes for
both directions very close to each other, unlike the US ones with a wide
grass area in the middle. In Germany, you often have small bushes (to
block
oncoming lights) between two guard rails. But on some straight stretches
of
Autobahn, the middle ground between both directions has been filled in
with
concrete, and the guard rails there can be disassembled. If you know what
you are looking for, it is quite easy to pick out these "ad-hoc runways"
as
you drive along. Another giveaway: there is never a brigde or cables
running across the highway, for obvious reasons.

Greetings,
Markus