Vluchtwegen en vluchtwegaanduidingen Westerscheldetunnel [Escape ways and escape-way marking in the Westerschelde tunnel]
report
Purpose: The tunnel under the Westerschelde is 6.6 km long. Evacuation is possible for emergencies. Evacuees from the "disaster tube" go to the "other tube" through transverse tunnels equipped with doors to contain smoke. But how do drivers know to leave their car, and where to go? ----
Methods: Evacuation steps are: (a) alerting drivers, (b) get them out of their cars, (c) " to the nearest escape door, (d) " through the cross tunnels, and (e) to the other tube. Taken into account was the existing equipment: loudspeakers, variable message signs, control room, et cetera. Measures to direct attention to the right information were proposed subsequently.
Results: Signs above the traffic lanes can be used to stop the traffic. Signs along the walls with "Alarm, get out please" supported by a message on the car radio provide directive information. When the first drivers start leaving their cars, others will follow. Escape doors attract attention because of a mark above the doorthe European "running manikin" (size: extra large)and because they reflect 3× more light than the wall. The manikin sign is repeated on the door. The door opens as usual and inviting furnishing or a glass door wins over "door phobia" and encourages the public to enter the cross tunnels. After arrival in the other tube, the public continues to be guided by the control room, lest they would decide to return to the disaster tube ("have a look", retrieve property from the car).
Conclusions: Right furnishing facilitates speedy evacuation of the Westerschelde tunnel. The report provides solutions on different levels of abstraction. The reader can consider alternatives to low-level solutions for himself using the higher level of abstraction as the starting point. Execution of the project made clear that details of the evacuation need further elaboration. Main points are of selective evacuation, the role of the control room, addressing through loudspeakers several tunnel segments at once, and the necessity of locks on the escape doors.
Methods: Evacuation steps are: (a) alerting drivers, (b) get them out of their cars, (c) " to the nearest escape door, (d) " through the cross tunnels, and (e) to the other tube. Taken into account was the existing equipment: loudspeakers, variable message signs, control room, et cetera. Measures to direct attention to the right information were proposed subsequently.
Results: Signs above the traffic lanes can be used to stop the traffic. Signs along the walls with "Alarm, get out please" supported by a message on the car radio provide directive information. When the first drivers start leaving their cars, others will follow. Escape doors attract attention because of a mark above the doorthe European "running manikin" (size: extra large)and because they reflect 3× more light than the wall. The manikin sign is repeated on the door. The door opens as usual and inviting furnishing or a glass door wins over "door phobia" and encourages the public to enter the cross tunnels. After arrival in the other tube, the public continues to be guided by the control room, lest they would decide to return to the disaster tube ("have a look", retrieve property from the car).
Conclusions: Right furnishing facilitates speedy evacuation of the Westerschelde tunnel. The report provides solutions on different levels of abstraction. The reader can consider alternatives to low-level solutions for himself using the higher level of abstraction as the starting point. Execution of the project made clear that details of the evacuation need further elaboration. Main points are of selective evacuation, the role of the control room, addressing through loudspeakers several tunnel segments at once, and the necessity of locks on the escape doors.
TNO Identifier
9932
Publisher
TNO
Place of publication
Soesterberg