Upgrading Tunnels through active Fire-Fighting Systems – Part 1
A number of road tunnels in Europe no longer comply with current safety requirements. Substantial impacts on the overall infrastructure resulting from tunnel closure due to construction are inevitable in many cases owing to the refurbishment measures that have become necessary. This report examines the possibility of upgrading tunnels by installing an active fire-fighting system devised to reduce such closures. In this connection, the analysis not only considers the installation costs for structural and technical measures but as well compares the economic effects of different refurbishment concepts in a holistic appraisal.
1 Introduction
In recent years new guidelines for tunnel safety with stricter demands relating to safety levels have been introduced or are under preparation both nationally and throughout Europe. This particularly affects structural and operational fire protection in road tunnels. Given the same or increased design fires – in other words factors such as fire duration, chronological development of the blaze and its maximum temperature – essentially structural fire protection requirements have perceptibly risen [1].
Consequently, some road tunnels fail to satisfy the current demands set in the...
