Risk analysis for severe traffic accidents in long road tunnels

In the recent years, with a globally increasing private motoring, tunnelling has gained a particular importance. After a series of dramatic accidents, the public opinion has turned its attention to tunnel fire safety. This paper focuses on the risk analysis in road tunnels, using the well-established Europe PIARC-OECD Quantitative Risk Assessment Model (QRAM). In the first part, a brief literature review - also on forensic investigations in tunnels - is performed, and the logic behind this method is briefly reassumed, focusing on the risk indicators. In the second part, a comprehensive risk analysis is performed in a long tunnel in Southern Italy, accounting for multifaceted aspects and parameters. The paper is completed with a sensitivity analysis on specific parameters that have an influence on the risk.

[1]  Eftihia Nathanail,et al.  Risk Assessment for Transportation of Hazardous Materials through Tunnels , 2010 .

[2]  A. Bletsas,et al.  Methodological approaches for tunnel classification according to ADR agreement , 2013 .

[3]  Zoe Nivolianitou,et al.  Enhancing Road Tunnel Risk Assessment with a Fuzzy System Based on the Cream Methodology , 2013 .

[4]  A Kashef,et al.  Investigation on the Performance of Fire Detection Systems for Tunnel Applications––Part 1: Full-Scale Experiments at a Laboratory Tunnel , 2011 .

[5]  Mark G. Stewart,et al.  Risk assessment for civil engineering facilities: critical overview and discussion , 2003, Reliab. Eng. Syst. Saf..

[6]  D. J. Finney,et al.  Probit Analysis: A Statistical Treatment of the Sigmoid Response Curve. , 1948 .

[7]  Daniel A. Crowl,et al.  Chemical Process Safety: Fundamentals with Applications , 2001 .

[8]  A. Cigada,et al.  Road and railway tunnel fire hazard: a new measurement method for risk assessment and improvement of transit safety , 2005, Proceedings of the 2005 IEEE International Workshop on Measurement Systems for Homeland Security, Contraband Detection and Personal Safety Workshop, 2005. (IMS 2005).

[9]  Hermann Knoflacher,et al.  TRANSPORT OF DANGEROUS GOODS THROUGH ROAD TUNNELS. , 1998 .

[10]  M. Holický.  Optimization of Risk Criteria for Road Tunnels , 2007 .

[11]  L. A. Brussaard,et al.  The Dutch Model for the Quantitative Risk Analysis of Road Tunnels , 2004 .

[12]  Richard Carvel,et al.  A History of Fire Incidents in Tunnels , 2005 .

[13]  Norbert J. Delatte,et al.  Beyond Failure: Forensic Case Studies for Civil Engineers , 2008 .

[14]  Wei F. Lee,et al.  Piping Failure of a Metro Tunnel Construction , 2016 .

[15]  Yusheng Shen,et al.  Seismic damage mechanism and dynamic deformation characteristic analysis of mountain tunnel after Wenchuan earthquake , 2014 .

[16]  Norbert J. Delatte.  Systems for Structural Failure Investigations in the United States , 2015 .

[17]  Stojan Petelin,et al.  Risk Analysis Methodology for Road Tunnels and Alternative Routes , 2010 .