For the tenth consecutive time, experts have tested European tunnels in 2008. The programme is operated by 19 national motoring organizations, all members of the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) from 18 countries. Since 2005, tests have been conducted under the brand name EuroTAP (European Tunnel Assessment Programme).
The EUR4.5 million “EuroTAP 2005-2007” programme was project-led by ADAC of Germany and received EU funding. EuroTAP 2008 is supported by the FIA Foundation. The EuroTAP principle of testing, assessing, informing and improving has been repeatedly successful, and not just when it comes to improving individual tunnels. Following disappointing ratings, governments have also responded with targeted nationwide investments. Visit www.eurotap.eu
Negative results
EuroTAP 2008 inspectors came home with the worst results in five years. After testing 31 tunnels in
11 countries, it was found that every third tunnel failed to make the grade. Leading the poor resultsin 2008 are Norway and Italy, but this comes as no surprise as these countries also led the worst results for the past three years. Visit www.n-tv.de/952583.html to watch a video (in German).
In Italy, out of the five tunnels tested three are on the losing end (Breva, Cernobbio and surprisingly the newly built Marinasco tunnel). The worst rated tunnel of all at the bottom of the list is the 2.4 km-long Cernobbio tunnel built in 1983 in the city of the same name at Lake Como. This is the fourth Italian tunnel in succession to come last in the test.
All three Norwegian tunnels surveyed (Eikefet, Jernfjell and Matreberg) were given a rating “very poor”, ranking them at the bottom of the list only just above the Cernobbio tunnel. Despite the bad publicity, Norway has received in the past for its tunnels, it appears authorities are not taking matters seriously and proceeding with substantial measures to improve the safety of their tunnels. Norway’s Road Administration, Statens vegvesen, has responded to criticism by referring to the fact that Norway’s numerous tunnels experience low traffic volumes and that there have hardly been any tunnel accidents. But given that traffic has been growing at a rate of between 3% and 4% annually, it is only a matter of time before a catastrophe happens.
Also badly rated were the Belgian Waasland tunnel in Antwerp, Spain’s Pando tunnel (on the AP-66 near Pola de Lena in Asturias) and the 2.4 km University tunnel in Düsseldorf, Germany. The Düsseldorf tunnel has no staffed control room, no emergency telephones for motorists in distress and no automatic smoke fire sensors or smoke extraction system. It had too few emergency exit doors and escape routes are not adequately marked.
Positive results
However, this year’s audit did see positive ratings. In all, EuroTAP inspectors rated 10 tunnels as "very good." The best rated tunnel at the top of the list is the 1.3 km Pont Pla tunnel, opened in 2006 in Andorra La Vella, the capital city of the tiny state of Andorra in the eastern Pyrenees between Spain and France.
Italy also reached positive results in the Serrone Tondo tunnel, opened in 2007, on the A3 motorway between Salerno and Reggio Calabria and the Valsassina tunnel on road SS 36 near Lecco.
In Austria and Switzerland, all of the nine tunnels tested received positive ratings. The tunnels tested in Austria this year were the Trebesing and Wolfsberg tunnels on the A10, the Kalcherkogel tunnel on the A2, the Arlberg tunnel on the S16 and the Karawanken cross-border tunnel on the A11 to Slovenia. The best Austrian tunnel (Trebesing) ranked sixth. It ranked especially well with the continuous breakdown lane and the offset access for emergency personnel, as well as efficient escape routes but received bad ratings for the high percentage of haulier traffic, which represents 22% of all traffic in the tunnel. The Kalcherkogel tunnel was docked points for its lack of a continuous breakdown lane but both the Trebesing and Kalcherkogel tunnels received “very good” marks.
The 13 km Arlberg tunnel received the rating “good” but the Wolfsberg and Karawanken tunnels managed only a “sufficient”. Both tunnels are in need of makeover. The 8 km Karawanken tunnel was criticized for its ventilation defects. The tunnel cannot be considered safe in its current condition, it is a long single bore tunnel without emergency galleries.
Apart from its emergency exits that are too far away, the Karawanken tunnel is rather well equipped.
European directive
2008’s negative results may be just a coincidence or due to the choice of tunnels but many new tunnels were tested this year. The fact is that there are still many tunnels in Europe which need to be upgraded and refurbished in order to fulfil the minimum standards of the EU directive on safety in road tunnels.
Despite the tunnel safety directive adopted in 2004, public authorities and operators still fail to fulfil recommendations towards the improvement of tunnel safety disparities across Europe. The directive on minimum standards for tunnel safety is due to be fully effective by 2014 for most member states and 2019 for a few exceptions.
EuroTAP 2008
New motoring clubs have joined EuroTAP 2008: ACL (Luxembourg), ACP (Portugal), AL (Finland),
FDM (Denmark), FFAC (France), FIB (Iceland) and M (Sweden). Although tunnels in these countries
were not tested this year, the participation of the new motoring clubs brings added value to the project by bringing in expertise and contributing to further dissemination of the tunnel test results.
EuroTAP is being supported this year by the FIA (Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile) foundation and 19 European partner clubs.
EuroTAP 2005-2007
EuroTAP, the three-year programme, started in 2005. With support from the EU, EuroTAP has fulfilled an ambitious programme of assessment of major tunnels on the trans-European road network. The EuroTAP partners have examined over 152 tunnels, some 300 km of tunnel tubes in 18 countries.
Three years of testing revealed that 21% of tunnels or one in every five tunnels failed to meet the minimum standards set out in the European directive on tunnel safety, that 25% of the key actors in assuring the safety management of major road tunnels do not receive regular training, and that 60% of Europe's most important road tunnels demonstrated a high level of safety and achieved a rating of "good" or "very good".
Methodology
The EuroTAP assessment methodology examines over 200 different criteria associated with a tunnel's structure and safety management. It has been developed by ADAC of Germany together with tunnel experts Deutsche Montan Technologie (DMT). Expertise has also been provided by the European Commission and other international bodies such as PIARC, UNECE and CEDR. Click here and here. 20/08.
