PIARC first results on

complex underground
road networks

Bernard Falconnat – Egis -

leader of PIARC WG5
 introduction

 50 years ago road underground infrastructures were short tunnels,

essentially for transit traffic or underpasses

 40 years ago infrastructures become more complex with ramps for

connection with surface streets network

 Since about 20 years underground infrastructures become complex

road networks with main interchanges and accesses to underground
facilities (parking lots)

 increasing of the construction of new underground urban infrastructures

(road – subway) due to:
 Large development of the urban metropolises
 Huge increase of the mobility
 Shortage of space on ground level
 Environmental pressure and requirement

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 Introduction

 EPAD in Paris

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 introduction

 Underground transportation networks raise numerous questions like:

 Management of the underground space
 Interaction with the urban development
 Construction methods with reduced impact on the ground level, the
buildings and the urban activities
 Ventilation and safety
 Sustainable and safe operation
 Etc.

 My presentation is focussed on the mission of PIARC and on road

tunnels concept, operation and safety

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 AIPCR / PIARC

 Who is PIARC – which mission ?

 Association Mondiale de la Route – World Road Association
 118 member governments

Member Country with

a National Committee

Member Country

Non Member Country

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 PIARC strategic plan

 Strategic Plan 2012-2015 - Strategic Themes

 Strategic Theme 1: Management and Performance
 Strategic Theme 2: Access and Mobility
 Strategic Theme 3 : Safety
 TC 3.1 National Road Safety Policies and Programs
 TC 3.2 Design and operation of Safer Road Infrastructure
 TC 3.3 Road Tunnels Operation
 TF 1 Road Safety Manual Task Force
 TF 2 Security Task Force
 Strategic Theme 4 : Infrastructure

 18 Technical Committees and 2 Task Forces regrouped in one of these 4

Strategic Themes.
 Committee on Terminology.

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 PIARC strategic plan

 Technical Committee TC 3.3 Road Tunnels Operation

 WG 1 – sustainable road operation
 WG 2 – feedback from experience on tunnel safety
 WG 3 – interactions with users
 WG 4 – best practices for fixed fire fighting systems
 WG 5 – complex underground road networks
 WG 6 – knowledge management

 At present there are no detailed guidelines or set of recommendations

concerning the design and operation specific to “complex urban
underground road networks”
 PIARC has included this task in its strategic plan and entrusted TC 3.3
with this mission
 TC 3.3 has created a new WG in charge of this mission

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 PIARC strategic plan

 Missions of PIARC in the field of tunnels concern:

 Functional and strategic concepts,
 Operating and safety facilities,
 Safety policy, risk management, safety procedures, organisation and
management,
 Operation, maintenance, heavy repairs and upgrading

 PIARC is not involved in the fields of geology, structures, construction methods

and construction risks, which are part of the AITES / ITA scope

 M.O.U between PIARC and ITA specifies the particular missions of each and
the missions carried out within a tight cooperation

 Representative of PIARC Tunnel Technical Committee by ITA-COSUF

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 AIPCR / PIARC

 PIARC’s mission
 Organize international forums
 Disseminate best practices
 Promote efficient tools for decision making
 Special emphasis for Developing Countries and Countries with Economies
in Transition

 See website for more information

www.piarc.org
 See also the publications online concerning the tunnels
 Tunnel Manual
 35 technical reports
 Tunnel glossary

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 WG 5 - Underground road networks

 WG5’s membership
 38 members and peer reviewers from 19 countries
 Mission starts in June 2012
 Deadline: publication for Seoul congress 2015
Norway
Japan
Greece
Finland
Danemark
China
UK
Sweden
Spain 2 2 6
South Korea Asia
Singapore
Netherlands Europe
Italy North America
Chile
South America
Canada / Québec
Czech Republic
Belgium 28
Austria
France
0 1 2 3 4 5

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 Present situation

 Analysis of the existing structures shows

 A large disparity concerning the concepts and requirements
 Rare national or international specific guidelines
 A saturation of the traffic with recurrent jams
 Major issues at the interfaces with ground networks or underground
facilities
 Recurrent « black points » for accidents
 Ageing of the facilities
 In some countries a lack of maintenance & heavy repairs
 Many tunnels do no more comply with the minimum safety requirements in
particular the oldest tunnels

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 Major safety and management issues

 Length of the underground infrastructures

 More than 10 km long for the major ones

 Important traffic volume

 500 to 750 passengers / km could be trapped in case of accident or fire:
escape – access – information to prevent panic
 Traffic jam / collision at tail of jam
 Essentially commuters traffic which behaviour may increase the risks

 Numerous branches of the network

 Smoke management to keep branches independent
 Efficient emergency accesses and escape routes
 Interfaces between traffic space and underground facilities like parking lots,
stations

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 Major safety and management issues

 Major interactions between underground infrastructure and streets

networks in open air
 Queuing at the connexion exit ramp / urban street may increase the risks
of collision inside the tunnel
 imperious necessity to fluidify the exit traffic in case of fire in order to make
traffic free downstream of the fire
 Access time for the emergency services according to the ground traffic –
specific procedures and means

 Interactions with the buildings above the tunnel or surrounding the

portals or the ventilation stacks
 Structure stability in case of fire
 Emission of smoke and toxic gases in case of fire: eventual procedures of
evacuation

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 Major safety and management issues

 Mandatory to organise an integrated management in order to solve all

the interfaces issues
 Single global management
 Multiple operators with
 exchange of information in real time
 strict procedures,
 clear definition of leadership and priority in case of accident or fire

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 Financing issues

 Urban underground road networks are more and more complex

 Increase of the construction and operation costs
 Financing becomes more and more difficult even with PPP or concession
process and toll
 As consequences: some projects are no more feasible

 Urban traffic is essentially passenger cars and vans (>98%)

 Functionality of the infrastructure has to be analysed
 Possible optimisation of the clearance and the width according to the
vehicles characteristic
 Saving of 20% (3,2 m clearance compared with 5,0m) to 25% (2,7m
clearance) on the construction costs could make the project financed
(recent analyses for urban projects in South America and Eastern Europe)

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 WG 5 - Underground road networks

 WG5’s mission includes four main tasks

 Task 1 - State of the situation around the world (case studies)
 Task 2 - Specific analyses and R&D actions
 Task 3 - Development of guidelines and recommendations
 Task 4 - Dissemination

 Task 1 – case studies which objectives are

 to list and analyse representative underground road networks
 to collect detailed informations by interviews
 existing design and operation dispositions
 return of experiences concerning the main issues, the good practices, the
major malfunctioning, the reasons of accidents
 needs of improvement or upgrading

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 WG 5 - Underground road networks

 Task 1 - case studies

 28 tunnels from 17 countries are under investigation
 With variable ageing: 40 years to tunnels under construction
 Investigation is carried out with interviews between a local WG 5 member
and the owners, operators or designers

USA
Sweden
Spain
Monaco
Greece
Canada 2 4
Austria 2 Asia
The Netherlands
Norway
3 Australia
Korea Europe
Japan
Italy
North America
Czech Republic South America
Chile 19
Belgium
Australia
France
0 1 2 3 4

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 WG 5 - Underground road networks

 Present situation
 Interviews have started two months ago
 6 interviews are completed at present and 20 are going one
 Deadline of the interviews September 2013
 analysis will be carried out during autumn 2013

 First results
 No particular surprise
 Main of the issues are part of the developments that will be carried
out within Task 2

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 WG 5 - Underground road networks

 Task 2 – specific analyses

 Existing tunnels do not reflect the whole problematic and issues of
complex underground road networks
 Specific analyses and R&D are required and carried out simultaneously in
particular:
 Geometry
 Functional geometry
 Geometry of the underground interchanges
 Traffic – capacity – breakdowns
 Signalling of the interchanges
 Low clearance tunnel
 Escape routes

Entrances, merging or exits lanes are often “black

points” as shown on the picture

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 WG 5 - Underground road networks

 Task 2 – specific analyses (follow)

 Ventilation
 Management of the smoke inside a complex network – aeraulic independence
of the “tunnel branches”
This independence is rarely assured for existing tunnels
 Ventilation and sustainable development
 Polluted air discharge – state of the art relating to air cleaning (efficiency –
costs – reliability)
 Smoke and toxic gases discharge in case of fire
 Specific conditions for tunnel with low clearance
 Evolution with the increasing of e-vehicles
 Specific operating and safety equipments
 New requirements for real time communication with the drivers
 Development of the concepts and the architecture in order to reduce and make
easier the maintenance
 Problematic of the multimodal tunnels

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 WG 5 - Underground road networks

 Task 2 – specific analyses (follow)

 Specific issues and organisation concerning the safety
 Time for the access to the tunnel under very dense urban traffic
 Emergency services accesses to a complex network under traffic saturation or
blockage
 Escape routes: legibility – management under safe conditions of the volume of
peoples
 Interfaces between underground network and ground network
 Interactions in particular in case of fire
 management of the whole system in case independent operators in order to
 assure the users safety
 optimise the conditions of global traffic flow

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 WG 5 - Underground road networks

 Tasks 3 & 4 – publications and dissemination

 Deadline: World Road Congress 2015 in Seoul
 Publication on the PIARC website
 Nature of the publications
 Monographs of the 28 tunnels investigated
 Synthesis of the return of experience concerning these 28 tunnels
 Technical reports concerning the specific analysis
 Recommendations to tunnel owners, designers and operators
concerning
 Tunnel upgrading
 New tunnels under design

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 As conclusion

 Underground road networks are complex systems

 Several existing tunnels present some dysfunctions and risky situations

that are very difficult to face

 The objective of PIARC is

 Carry out detailed analyses and launch R&D actions
 Propose recommendations in order to:
 Settle a basis of international good practices,
 Make these complex system more safe and reliable
 Improve the sustainable development policy
 Deadline autumn 2015 World Road Congress in Seoul

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 Thank you for your attention

bernard.falconnat@egis.fr
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