Suppression systems – Trade-offs & Benefits

Published: 14 April, 2010

Suppression systems for road tunnels is a major topic of interest to the international tunnel community at present. While fixed water based fire suppression systems have been widely installed in tunnels in Australia and Japan, they have had limited use elsewhere.

There is, however, growing interest in the application of fire suppression including water mist, deluge systems and foam/water systems in tunnel environments. Research programs such as UPTUN and SOLIT have provided some basis for a better understanding of the role of suppression systems in road tunnel design.

This paper investigates about the possibilities of incorporating trade-offs in tunnel design when a suppression system is used, and it also discusses the different benefits that a suppression system could bring with it. Investigation of such matters must in part be dependant upon the design, operational and fire safety objectives for the tunnel and the extent to which assetprotection and operational continuity are objectives as well as life safety of occupants.

To see if there is a potential for economic benefits when incorporating a suppression system a risk analysis approach has been used. This analysis takes into account the type of traffic foreseen, the traffic volume and the different types of consequences a vehicle fire could have upon the tunnel system.

File: 272-283_Supression systems.pdf (477k)

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