First Tunnel in Europe Equipped with Automatic Fire-fighting System Sets New StandardsImproved escape routes and dualling single-tube tunnels are the solutions so far implemented from the infrastructure point of view to address the question of safety in tunnels. They are, however, no suitable means to fight the fire itself. For this reason, experts have since long demanded automatic systems for fire-fighting. And for the first time in Europe, a tunnel operator decided to install an automatic fire-fighting system in a tunnel.Autostrada del Brennero, the A22 motorway company, is installing in its Virgil (Virgolo) tunnel near Bolzano, north Italy a state-of-the-art water mist fire-fighting system supplied by Fogtec of Germany. The 887 m-long dual-lane Virgil tunnel is formed by two tubes with horseshoe-shaped cross section, and is situated in Bolzano on the A22 to Modena.The decision was taken after extensive fire tests, in particular on-site tests in the tunnel in spring 2005. These tests were performed within the scope of the European research programme UPTUN (Upgrading of Tunnels). For this purpose, the tunnel was completely shut down to traffic. These tests clearly revealed that a fire load of 30 MW - which roughly corresponds to the combustion of six cars completely on fire - was kept under control by the water mist system and people could safely stay in the immediate vicinity of the fire. Temperatures at a distance of 10 metres went down to below 50°C within a very short time, and the generation of toxic flue gases was substantially reduced. When the same test was used without activating the water mist system, temperatures went up to more than 1,000°C. In case of emergency, such systems mean people can be evacuated safely, and the fire brigade can get sufficiently close to the fire to extinguish it completely.In a tunnel fire like in the Frejus tunnel in June 2005 or at the Mont Blanc in 1999, most victims were not killed by the fire itself. They suffocated by smoke and the toxic carbon monoxide. The progression of fire was speeded up by a furnace-like situation and dense smoke spread over the entire tunnel within seconds. For lack of visibility, the tunnel users were trapped and had nearly no chance to escape from the inferno.To fight fires in tunnels efficiently, it is important to prevent the generation of extreme temperatures and of flue gases spreading in large quantities. A fundamental condition for such prevention is to initiate the fire and smoke fighting measures the fastest possible. This can only be ensured by an automatic fire-fighting system tuned with the tunnel safety system.The water mist system developed by Fogtec for the Virgil tunnel is an extinguishing system operated with High-Pressure Water Mist (HPWM) and using pure water as extinguishing medium. The HPWM system generates fine water mist from a small amount of water through special nozzles with 100 bar high-pressure technology. This mist is capable, due to its immense reaction surface and the instantaneous vaporisation of mist droplets, of extracting large amounts of energy from the fire, lowering the temperature level rapidly. This property, together with the fact that water mist will wash out parts of the flue gases, is of particular importance for the protection of people in closed spaces such as tunnels. When a fire is fought already in the very beginning by an appropriate fire-fighting system, escape routes will be kept open and rescue via these routes is made easier.Installation work in the Virgil tunnel will be completed by the middle of 2006. Signs will then be mounted to draw car drivers' attention to the high safety standards in this tunnel. All tunnel users will feel more secure, in particular when knowing that every sixth tunnel in Europe has been rated by an ADAC investigation to be below minimum safety standards. Click here. Read E-News Weeky 48/2003. Visit www.autobrennero.it, www.fogtec.com and www.uptun.net 05/06.