Should We Expect a Disastrous Fire Accident in an Urban Road Tunnel? Literature Data Review and a Case Study for Selected Tunnels in Poland

Krystian Szewczyński, Aleksander Król and Małgorzata Król
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Krystian Szewczyński: Faculty of Transport and Aviation Engineering, Silesian University of Technology, 40-019 Katowice, Poland
Aleksander Król: Faculty of Transport and Aviation Engineering, Silesian University of Technology, 40-019 Katowice, Poland
Małgorzata Król: Faculty of Energy and Environmental Engineering, Silesian University of Technology, 44-100 Gliwice, Poland

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 11, 1-16

Abstract: Urban road tunnels are a reasonable remedy for inconvenience due to congested road traffic. However, they bring specific threats, especially those related to the possibility of fire outbreak. This work is a case study for selected urban road tunnels. Considering tunnel specificity, road traffic intensity, and structure and based on the literature data for vehicle fire probability, the chances of a fire accident were estimated for selected tunnels in Poland. It was shown that low power tunnel fires could be expected in the 10–20-year time horizon. Although such threats cannot be disregarded, tunnel systems are designed to cope with them. The chances of a disastrous fire accident were estimated as well. Such events can occur when an HGV with flammable goods or a tanker are involved. Such accidents are fortunately very rare, but, on the other hand, that is the reason why the available data are scanty and burdened with high uncertainty. Therefore, a discussion on the reliability of the obtained results is also provided.

Keywords: urban road tunnel; tunnel fire; fire accident likelihood; fire accident cause (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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