The Tunnel Link Page 7, edited by Gunnar Lotsberg

Tunnel Safety
	Serious Fire Accidents in Road Tunnels
	Railroad and Metro Tunnel Accidents
	Serious Metro Fires 1970 - 1987
	Historic Railway Disasters
Australia	Fire Safety guidelines for road tunnels (pdf)
Austria	Der 11. November 2000 wird vermutlich als schw�rzester Tag seit dem II. Weltkrieg in die �sterreichische Geschichte eingehen. Nicht weniger als 155 Menschen kamen beim Brand einer Schr�gseilbahn auf das Kitzsteinhorn in Kaprun ums Leben.
France	Les 41 propositions du rapport commun des missions administratives d'enqu�te technique fran�aise et italienne relatif � la catastrophe survenue le 24 mars 1999 dans le tunnel du Mont-Blanc Rapport du 30 juin 1999 - Report of 30 June 1999 Mission administrative d’enqu�te technique sur l’incendie survenu le 24 mars 1999 au tunnel routier du Mont Blanc. Rapport sur la s�curit� des tunnels routiers et ferroviaires fran�ais Department for Transport: Rapport D'Enquete Relatif A L'Incendie Survenu A Bord D'Une Navette Poids-Lourds Le 18 Novembre 1996 Dans Le Tunnel Sous La Manche Rapport de M. Marc Reymann (commission des affaires �trang�res): accord avec l'Italie relatif au contr�le de la circulation dans les tunnels du Mont-Blanc et du Fr�jus
Italy	Sintesi dell'avvenimento Alle ore 10.45 del giorno 24/03/1999 un camion belga � entrato nel Traforo dalla barriera di pedaggio francese. Il camion era composto da una motrice di fabbricazione Volvo e da un semirimorchio frigorifero; trasportava, secondo quanto � stato possibile accertare, 9 tonnellate di margarina e 10 tonnellate di farina. L'isolamento termico del semirimorchio era costituito da poliuretano espanso. Il serbatoio del combustibile del camion ha una capacit� di circa 600 litri di gasolio; inoltre il gruppo frigorigeno, disposto per la parte compressore-condensatore sotto la parte anteriore del semirimorchio, � azionato da un motore primo endotermico, che a sua volta comporta un serbatoio della capacit� presunta di circa 100 litri di gasolio Project FIT in Italy (Functionally Intelligent Tunnel- ITALY ) A safety procedure program is going to be applied in Italian old and new tunnels. The Project is structured in two main parts. The first one derives its denomination from the one of the most feared events (Fire In Tunnel- ENEA). The second one is based upon the connection among Industries, Scientific Centers and End Users. The overall project aims at the emergency prevention via new technologies to be applied in the safety structures of the construction
Switzerland	Gotthard Tunnel: Die Sicherheit im Strassenverkehr h�ngt von unterschiedlichen Faktoren ab. Das Fehlverhalten von Verkehrsteilnehmenden ist jedoch nach wie vor die Hauptursache der Unf�lle. Und wenn diese im Tunnel geschehen, kann es ganz besonders gef�hrlich werden. Lesen Sie bitte die nachfolgenden Verhaltensregeln f�r die Fahrt im Tunnel gut durch. Ihrer Sicherheit zuliebe. Brandkatastrophe vom 24. Oktober 2001, Chronologie der Ereignisse 24.10.2001 Der Gotthard-Strassentunnel wird wegen eines Unfalls um ca. 09.45 geschlossen. Bei einer Frontalkollision zwischen zwei Lastwagen bricht am Mittwochmorgen im Tunnel Feuer aus. Laut ersten Polizeiangaben soll der Unfall Todesopfer gefordert haben. Nach Polizeiinformationen fand der Unfall etwa zwei Kilometer vor dem S�dportal statt. Einer der Lastwagen hat Pneus und Planen geladen. Peut-on garantir la s�curit� des voyageurs dans les longs tunnels ferroviaires ? par Peter Zbinden, directeur d’AlpTransit Gothard SA Avec ses 57 km, le tunnel de base du Saint-Gothard est le plus long tunnel ferroviaire du monde, parmi tous ceux existant d�j� ou projet�s. En certains endroits, il est situ� jusqu'� 2400 m sous la montagne. Des questions de s�curit� d‘une grande importance en d�coulent.
United Kingdom	Department for Transport: Inquiry into the fire on heavy goods vehicle shuttle 7539 on 18 November 1996 In this Report, we conclude that the fire on 18 November 1996 was a severe test for the system and its operators, and we make a large number of recommendations arising from our findings. (French copy)
USA	Prevention and Control of Highway Tunnel Fires This is an electronic version of publication no. FHWA-RD-83-032 Rules and Regulations governing the transportation of Hazardous materials through the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel "linear heat detectors," which are supposed to trip alarms when temperatures rise drastically in the tunnels, have proven virtually useless in the Ted Williams Tunnel. That point was made clear in May 2001, when the $1 million system failed to sound the alarm until after firefighters had extinguished an engine fire on a bus carrying the Seattle Mariners baseball team.
UNECE	Transport Divison Home Page: Safety in Tunnels Forthcoming meetings Last added documents
EU	Safety in road tunnels Proposal for a DIRECTIVE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL on minimum safety requirements for tunnels in the Trans-European Road Network (presented by the Commission) Memo Safety in European Road Tunnels Proposal for a European Parliament and Council Directive
Research Fire	FIT is a European Thematic Network on Fire in Tunnels. FIT provides a European platform for dissemination and information of up-to-date knowledge and research on Fire & Tunnels. FIT represents 33 members from 12 European Countries
	UPTUN-home page UPTUN is the acronym for Cost-effective, Sustainable and Innovative Upgrading Methods for Fire Safety in Existing Tunnels; a European RTD-project funded by the European Commission in FP5.
	CIST Research and Projects: Fire in Transport Tunnel Research on Rapidly Heated Concrete, Computer Simulations on Transport Tunnel Fires, Papers on Transport Tunnel Fire
	T. Andersen, B. J. Paaske: Safety in Railway Tunnels and selection of Tunnel Concept
	Hot-Smoke Testing in Australian tunnels This is a complete paper by Hugh Allan and Michael Delichatsios of CSIRO Fire Science & Technology Laboratory for the Australian Fire Protection Association Conference in Hobart in November.
	I. Riess, M. Bettelini, R. Brandt: Smoke Extraction in Tunnels with considerable Slope, 4^th International Conference in Road and Rail Tunnels, Madrid 2001 (PDF/Adobe Acrobat) J. Schabacker, M. Bettelini: CFD study of temperature and smoke distribution in a railway tunnel with natural ventilation system (PDF/Adobe Acrobat)
	Incendie dans les Tunnels de Transport - Fire Safety in Transport Tunnels The ITA and its national group in Switzerland, co-organized on March 23rd and 24th in Lausanne, a seminar on fire safety in transport tunnels. The objective of this seminar was to examine Swiss recommendations on the subject; to put forward possible comments and to assess to what extent these recommendations could be used as a basis for international recommendations.
	The Memorial Tunnel Fire Ventilation Test Program (MTFVTP) was a comprehensive, full-scale test program that was conducted to provide definitive data to support ventilation system design and test operating concepts.
	Tunnel fires research at Heriot Watt University The effect of longitudinal ventilation on fire size in a tunnel, Details of pool fire study - Conclusions If there is a pool fire in a tunnel, any forced longitudinal ventilation applied will tend to reduce the severity of the fire unless the fire is very large, in which case the ventilation will cause the fire to increase in severity. There is a significant difference between experimental data and expert opinion. More experiments are needed to increase our understanding of fire behaviour in tunnels.
	Highlights from OECD-report: Safety in Tunnels Transport of dangerous goods through road tunnels, 12 pages (pdf)
Research Human behaviour	SINTEF: Psychologically correct tunnels The Highway Authority will lead the way with 'psychologically correct tunnels' Researchers at SINTEF Civil and Environmental Engineering have been given the task of evaluating efforts to suppress the feeling of unpleasantness.
	ADAC-Tunneltest 2000 Die Tester nahmen 25 Tunnel auf wichtigen Reiserouten in �sterreich (vier), der Schweiz (f�nf), Italien (zwei), Frankreich (drei), Gro�britannien (drei), Spanien (drei), Belgien (zwei) und Deutschland (drei) unter die Lupe. The results from a new equipment test in 16 tunnels were presented by ADAC on April 26, 2001. The different types of installed safety equipment have been counted and he final safety rating are based on a simple mathematical model. There is no explanation why the test contains no real risk assessment and why the traffic volume is excluded from the risk model. In this way the motorway tunnels with two tubes and high traffic volumes get the highest score. One tube tunnels with low traffic volumes get low score because less sophisticated equipment have been installed in these tunnels. Some tunnel experts say that the ADAC tunnel test is no real safety test at all. It's only a counting of the fire extinguishers, fire detecting systems, video cameras, water pipe lines and other equipment. The producers of safety equipment will of course be happy for the test results, but the tunnel user should never feel too safe in a tunnel with high traffic density even the ADAC score should be "very good". The drivers should be informed that a dangerous situation takes only seconds to develop, and most technical equipment even in the best equipped tunnels will react too slow to be of any help in case of a big crash. All tunnel users should know how to use the safety equipment that have been installed in tunnels. They should always use the fire extinguishers and emergency telephones in case of fires or accidents. In this way the staff at the control centre can react immediately, close the tunnel and alarm other drivers in the tunnel by giving messages over the car radio. Everybody should also keep in mind that in case a fire gets out of control, they should escape as soon as possible and never wait for rescue by the fire brigade or anybody else. ADAC-Tunneltest 2001 - Die ADAC-Tunneltests