Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Toxicity Limit States in Tunnel Fire Safety Designs

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Engineering Assets and Public Infrastructures in the Age of Digitalization

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Mechanical Engineering ((LNME))

  • 1543 Accesses

Abstract

The Mont Blanc tunnel fire March 1999 killed 39 persons, of which most died within 15 min due to intoxication. In Norway there have been several fires the recent seven years. No single road-user has died from intoxication in those fires, in spite of being engulfed with smoke for more than 1.5 h. The tunnel safety discourse amongst tunnel owners and researchers turns towards questioning whether current longitudinal ventilation strategies can be used to design the tunnel system to meet the self-rescue principle. Smoke control would then be the design criterion. The Norwegian Public Roads Administration could in this perspective re-duce its effort to invest in safety measures ensuring safe havens for road users trapped in smoke and other fire preventive measures. We are very critical to such a development of tunnel fire safety. This paper raises questions about predictability of smoke dispersions in case of tunnel fires as well as human tolerability of toxic gases from fires. We conclude with issuing designs of research studies to reduce the gaps of knowledge revealed in the literature.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 149.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Carvel, R., Beard, A.: The Handbook of Tunnel Fire Safety. Thomas Telford, London (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  • CPR: Methods for the determination of possible damage to people and objects resulting from releases of hazardous materials “Green book”, Hague, the Netherlands, Directorate -General of Labour of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment (1992)

    Google Scholar 

  • Dix, A.: Safety standards for road and rail tunnels - a comparative analysis. In: 2nd International Conference Tunnel Safety and Ventilation, Graz (2004)

    Google Scholar 

  • Duffé, P., Marec, M.: Task force for technical investigation of the 24 March 1999 fire in the Mont Blanc vehicular tunnel, Minister of the Interior - Ministry of Equipment, Transportation and Housing (1999)

    Google Scholar 

  • Hurley, M.J.: SFPE Handbook of Fire Protection Engineering. Springer, New York (2016)

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Ingason, H., Li, Y.Z., Lönnermark, A.: Tunnel Fire Dynamics. Springer, New York (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  • ISO: Estimation of the lethal toxic potency of fire effluents. The International Organization for Standardization, Geneva (2015)

    Google Scholar 

  • Miclea, P.C., Chow, W.K., Chien, S.W., Li, J., Kashef, A.H., Kai, K.: International tunnel fire-safety design practices. ASHRAE J. 49, 50–60 (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  • NFPA, NFPA 502: Standard for road tunnels, bridges, and other limited access highways. National Fire Protection Association, Quincy, Mass (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  • NFPA, NFPA 101: Life Safety Code. National Fire Protection Association, Quincy, Mass (2018)

    Google Scholar 

  • Njå, O., Kuran, C.: Erfaringer fra redningsarbeidet og selvredningen ved brannen i Oslofjordtunnelen 23. juni 2011 [Experiences from the rescue work and the self rescue in the Oslofjord tunnel fire 23 June 2011]. International Research Institute of Stavanger, Stavanger (2015)

    Google Scholar 

  • Nævestad, T.-O., Ranestad, K., Elvebakk, B., Meyer, S.F.: Kartlegging avkjøretøybranner i norske vegtunneler 2008-2015 [Vehicle fires in Norwegian road tunnels 2008-2015]. Institute of Transport Econoimics, Oslo (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  • Seconds from disaster - S01E09 - fire on the ski slope, Directed by SEMPIO, T. Youtube (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  • Stec, A.A., Hull, R. (eds.): Fire Toxicity. CRC Press, Oxford (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  • SVV: Håndbok N500 Vegtunneler [Manual N500 Road Tunnels]. Statens vegvesen, Oslo (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  • Tijms, H.C.: Stochastic Models: An Algorithmic Approach. Wiley, Chichester (1994)

    MATH  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Aibel AS, Jens Risøens gate 72, 5527, Haugesund, Norway

    Lene Østrem

  2. University of Stavanger, Ullandhaug, 4036, Stavanger, Norway

    Ove Njå

Authors
  1. Lene Østrem
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ove Njå
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lene Østrem .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Stavanger, Stavanger, Norway

    Jayantha P. Liyanage

  2. Graduate School of Technology Management, University of Pretoria, Hatfield, South Africa

    Joe Amadi-Echendu

  3. Asset Institute, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

    Joseph Mathew

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this paper

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this paper

Østrem, L., Njå, O. (2020). Toxicity Limit States in Tunnel Fire Safety Designs. In: Liyanage, J., Amadi-Echendu, J., Mathew, J. (eds) Engineering Assets and Public Infrastructures in the Age of Digitalization. Lecture Notes in Mechanical Engineering. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-48021-9_45

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-48021-9_45

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-48020-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-48021-9

  • eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation