User Manual

Introduction to tunnels
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Building Technologies A6V10283843_a_en
Fire Safety & Security Products 05.2010
2.1.2.5 Control centers
Manned control center are being regionally centralized more and more: different
tunnels are controlled from a common control center. From there, the tunnel opera-
tions can be monitored, all facilities can be controlled remotely and communication
with the road users can take place via radio, loud speakers or emergency tele-
phone. These functionalities are especially important in the event of an incident. In
Swiss road tunnels, there should usually be two primary control centers: control
center for traffic (application control center) and control center for operations (main-
tenance control center).
2.2 Safety in tunnels
2.2.1 Basics related to a fire in a tunnel
2.2.1.1 Thermal loads
Fire in a tunnel is shaped by the structural characteristics of the infrastructure:
– Enclosed space
– Heat cannot escape
This means that the heat development in the tunnel is very quick and the strain on
the building structure is high (“thermal shock”). Depending on what is on fire, the
thermal load as well as the duration of the fire is very different (Tab. 1)
Vehicle Heat release rate [MW] Duration of fire [Min.]
Passenger car 5 - 10 (approx. 800 l fuel) 30 – 60
Heavy goods vehicle 100 (approx. 8000 l fuel) 120
Road tanker 300 120 – 240
Metro, bus 40 (approx. 3380 l fuel) 90 – 120
Train 300 120 – 240
Tab. 1 Thermal load of vehicles
1
1
Information from VSH Versuchstollen Hagerbach AG based on published figures from EUREKA and UPTUN