The European Tunnel Assessment Programme (EuroTAP) has released its yearly audit on safety in European road tunnels. In total, 51 tunnels have been assessed. The EuroTAP inspection, which is supported by the EU, was coordinated by the automobile associations and motoring clubs in 13 countries. In Europe, one road tunnel out of five does not comply with the minimum safety standards. Visit
www.eurotestmobility.comThe top spot in the test was shared by the Ottsdorf tunnel in Austria on the highway between Linz and Graz and the Markusberg tunnel in Luxembourg on the highway between Petang and Schengen.
Italian tunnels fared the worse, with three of the four reviewed by EuroTAP given the lowest possible grade - "very poor".
By and large, the best results are achieved by three new tunnels opened in Europe between 2004 and 2006. They are the Brinje tunnel on the Zagreb-Split motorway A 1 in Croatia, the Tiergarten Spreebogen tunnel in Berlin and the Mrazovka tunnel in the Czech Republic. Eighteen tunnels have been rated "very good", 11 "good" and 12 have been assessed "acceptable". However, too many tunnels have failed the EuroTAP audit. Safety in three tunnels has been rated "poor" (Kennedy in Belgium, Mosi in Switzerland, and Gernbach in Germany) while seven scored "very poor" (three in Italy, three in Norway and one in Spain).
Since 1999, nearly 250 tunnels have been inspected all across Europe. Tunnels are audited according to a standardised methodology that takes into account different criteria: fire protection (18%), traffic and traffic supervision (17%), tunnel systems (14%), escape exits and rescue access (13%), communication (11%), ventilation (11%), illumination and energy supply system (8%) and emergency management (8%). The 51 tunnels that have been inspected all belong to the trans-European road network (TEN) and have been selected according to their relevant situation on tourist routes.
AustriaThe best tunnels are in Austria. Eight tunnels have been evaluated, five of which have been rated "very good" and three "good". As part of a 10-year programme due to end in 2012, Austria is investing billions to double existing single bore tunnels: Katschberg, Tauern and Roppener, due to open in 2008 and 2009. The Lainberg tunnel on the Pyhrn motorway A9 and the Ganzstein tunnel on the Semmering expressway S6 in Mürzzuschlag will also be doubled. Dualling of the Pfaender tunnel will commence this year. Visit
www.oeamtc.at/tests/tunnel to view the Austrian results.
GermanyIn the 2007 tunnel test coordinated by ADAC, four of the seven tunnels in Germany have been rated "very good". Among them are the Tiergarten Spreebogen tunnel and the Nollinger tunnel on the A 861 in Baden-Württemberg. The Tiergarten Spreebogen tunnel on road B 96 in Berlin is nearly 2.4 km long and was opened in 2006. Up to 44,000 vehicles use the tunnel each day between Invaliden Street in the north and Reichpietschufer in the south. Visit
www.adac.deItalyFor the third consecutive year, the Italian tunnels rank last in the 2007 audit. In the tunnels audited by inspectors, there were no extinguishers, hydrants, automatic safety devices, telephones, traffic lights and emergency management plans. Apart the brilliant results achieved by the Frejus tunnel and the rating "sufficient" attained by the Grand San Bernardo and Colle Giardino tunnels, the Colle Capretto, Serra Rotonda and Paci 2 tunnels failed the tests. The former two occupy the last two places of the European ranking. Opened respectively in 1967 and 1970, they lack the minimum safety requirements such as extinguishers, fans and traffic lights at the entrances.
The twin-tube Colle Capretto tunnel was also rated "very poor" despite the positive assessment of some systems (ventilation, illumination and energy generation) which, however, did not compensate the lack of hydrants to extinguish fires as well as the absence of sufficient emergency exits in case of fire. On the contrary, the Frejus tunnel between Italy and France is "good" while the Grand San Bernardo tunnel between Italy and Switzerland and Colle Giardino tunnel are "acceptable". Visit
www.aci.it/fileadmin/documenti/notizie/Comunicati/TunnelItaliani.pdfSpainAccording to the EuroTAP survey, the recently inaugurated Avenida de Portugal tunnel, which forms part of the first ring motorway M-30 in Madrid, is the best tunnel of the seven inspected around Spain. The risk of accidents in the Avenida de Portugal tunnel is "acceptable" due to the high average daily traffic of vehicles, around 108,000 cars, that drive through it each day. The Sartego tunnel in La Coruna province, on motorway AP-9 on the north access to Ferrol, has been valued as the second safest tunnel of Spain. The 1,032 m-long tunnel, opened in 2004, offers good safety conditions. Noticeable safety measures include traffic lights and barriers at the entrances, as well as two cross-passages between the two tubes, 300 metres from each other, to serve as escape ways and rescue access. In addition, the Sartego tunnel, which records a daily traffic of 16,000 vehicles, is fitted with a permanent video monitoring system, service shoulders, emergency call telephones and fire extinguishers each 150 metres, and there is also a control and management centre with personnel 24 hours a day.
Nevertheless, the audit reckons that the tunnel can be improved in some security aspects. There is no permanent traffic radio coverage and no automatic record of traffic incidents. In this respect, the escape exits are not identified with rescue lamps, in case of fire the tunnel is not closed automatically and the rescue vehicles cannot go through the entrances.
Among the seven Spanish tunnels under scrutiny, four (Casares in Malaga, Fabares in Asturias, L'Olleria in Valencia, and Joanet in Gerona) have been rated "acceptable" while one, the Los Yébenes tunnel in Toledo, received the rating "very poor", making it one of the worst tunnels in Europe in this year's ranking with the Paci 2 tunnel on the Salerno-Reggio Calabria motorway A 3 in Italy. Visit
www.race.es and
www.racc.es to read more about the Spanish results.
SwitzerlandSix of the seven Swiss tunnels surveyed by EuroTAP have been rated "acceptable" or "very good". Safety was judged "poor" in only one of them, the Mosi tunnel. In Switzerland, the Touring Club Suisse (TCS) is responsible for the audits. With the exception of the Mosi tunnel, on the freeway bypass from Brunnen to Schwyz, the Swiss tunnels are among the safest.
The old Arisdorf tunnel, in Basel-Landschaft canton, and the Seelisberg tunnel, between Lucerne and Altdorf, reach the highest scores. They were put in service respectively in 1970 and 1980 on the expressway A2. The Seelisberg tunnel was rated "poor" in 1999, but a new video surveillance system and improvements to the escape routes and exits enhanced its safety.
The Bruyères tunnel on the A1 near Morat, in Fribourg canton, and the Spier tunnel, also on the A1 in Lucerne canton, are among the best rated.
On the contrary, two tunnels have scored "acceptable" because they do not meet certain obligatory criteria. The Grand Saint Bernard tunnel, which links Italy to Switzerland, could have performed "good" instead of "acceptable" had it been equipped with safety exits. The construction of a rescue tunnel is planned by 2011.
The Mont-Chemin tunnel, on the Martigny bypass in Valais county, also scored "acceptable". Lastly, controllers estimated that the Mosi tunnel has "poor" safety standards since there are no escapes and its ventilation system is of poor quality. Visit
www.tcs.ch/main/de/home/sicherheit/infrastrukturen/euro_tap.htmlUnited KingdomThe 3.24 km-long Mersey Queensway tunnel has been condemned in the new report for having no fire alarms or emergency lay-bys, even though it one of the busiest in the UK. The tunnel was also criticised for a lack of automatic detection of traffic incidents. But the tunnel - the oldest of the 51 tunnels in the EuroTAP survey - is still rated "acceptable" by inspectors, who praised the Mersey Queensway for having a number of facilities including seven new escape refuges and rescue routes and video surveillance throughout. Inspectors praised the tunnel for its ventilation and communication systems. The tunnel was opened by King George V in 1934 and has more than 32,000 cars passing through it each day. Click
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