TUNNEL FIRE: TESTING TO EVALUATE VENTILATION SYSTEMS

In a tunnel fire, it is the smoke and heat, not the fire itself, that are truly deadly. In the past, designers have had to rely on theoretical analysis in designing highway tunnel ventilation systems. The Memorial Tunnel Fire Ventilation Test Program will give designers first-hand, real-life data and information on the behavior of heat and smoke in a tunnel fire. The Memorial Tunnel is a two-lane, 0.85-km structure near Standard, West Virginia, that was abandoned in the late 1980s when the highway was expanded and realigned. Today, however, it is more like a highly sophisticated laboratory than an outmoded highway tunnel. It has two ventilation buildings--one at each end--each with three fully reversible vane axial fans. Temperature sensors, video cameras, and velocity probes have been installed inside the tunnel. Approximately 130 tests will be conducted in the tunnel to determine the effectiveness of different ventilation systems and strategies in tunnel fires. Ventilation systems to be tested include the following: transverse, semitransverse, oversized single extraction ports, jet fans, and natural airflow.

• Record URL:
  • http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/publicroads/95winter/p95wi24.cfm
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/oclc/1586080
• Corporate Authors:

  Federal Highway Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Robena, J N
• Publication Date: 1995

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: Figures; Photos;
• Pagination: p. 24-25
• Serial:
  • Public Roads
  • Volume: 58
  • Issue Number: 3
  • Publisher: Federal Highway Administration
  • ISSN: 0033-3735
  • Serial URL: https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/publicroads/
• Publication flags:

  Open Access (libre)

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Design; Fires; Heat; Research and educational facilities; Safety; Smoke; Tests; Tunnels; Ventilation equipment; Ventilation systems
• Identifier Terms: Memorial Tunnel
• Geographic Terms: Standard (West Virginia)
• Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Design; Highways; Safety and Human Factors; Terminals and Facilities; I25: Design of Tunnels; I80: Accident Studies;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00781716
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, USDOT
• Created Date: Jan 16 2000 12:00AM