Tunnel fire safety
article
In forthcoming years, public and private transport in Europe requires large investments in infrastructural works. A significant part of the infra-structural works will consist of tunnels and other underground structures. Such structures have specific safety aspects. The safety of underground structures such as tunnels, is a point of increasing concern, both in Europe and elsewhere. Main reason is the increasing road and rail traffic and increasing tunnel lengths. New innovative safety measures have to be defined to avoid an increasing incident frequency in tunnels and to avoid increasing consequences of the incidents both in terms of causalities and material damage, including traffic obstruction. This paper briefly reviews the various aspects involved in the assessment of the structural integrity. Results of extensive research into three major infra-structural works are be presented: the fire safety of the tunnels in the High Speed Link, Betuweroute and the Western Scheld tunnel in the Netherlands. The results incorporate full scale fire tests investigating the structural integrity of high strength concrete tunnel linings.
Topics
TNO Identifier
237389
ISSN
00467316
Source
Heron, 48(1), pp. 3-16.
Pages
3-16