ITA COSUF: 2 Days full of Practice and Theory. Private Workshop with
Visit to Elbe Tunnel and Operating Centre Hochbahn gave excellent Insights
Lausanne (CH),
11 December 2015.- It is very well known that networking is
one of the most important activities of modern business life. For the members
of ITA COSUF this is a lived experience. "Regularly we organize for our
members this private workshop to use our excellent network to discuss and
inform about the latest topics in the field of operational
safety and security in underground facilities,"
explains Dr. Roland Leucker, chairman of ITA COSUF the intention of the latest
event in Hamburg/Germany on October 28 to 29, 2015 (Fig. 1). Around 30 ITA
COSUF members took the great opportunity to visit the Elbe Tunnel with a Tunnel
Ventilation Demonstration, the Elbe Tunnel Control Centre and the Operating
Centre of Hochbahn (metro and public transport operator of Hamburg) in the
northern waterside metropolis.
Joint Invitation and Organisation
The workshop,
meetings of Activity Groups and the Steering Board were organised by the
Landesbetrieb Straßen, Brücken und Gewässer Hamburg (LSBG, State Agency of
Roads, Bridges and
Water Hamburg) and ITA COSUF. The first day was reserved for
internal meetings of the ITA COSUF Steering Board and the four Activity Groups.
The second day was well-filled with technical presentations, site visits to the
Elbe Tunnel with Control Room and Tunnel Tube and as well the Operating Centre
Hochbahn (metro and public transport operator of Hamburg).
Technical Presentations
Practice is
nothing without theory and following this idea, the participants were informed
about some interesting details in the morning of Thursday, 29th October 2015.
First of all Christina Kluge, LSBG Tunnel Safety Officer, gave a short overview
on tunnels and large scale projects in the Hamburg area with focus on
operational safety. After a presentation from Karl-Heinz Reintjes, DEGES Head
of department Civil Engineering Structures, about the three new tunnels on the
motorway A7 in the course of the A7 extension followed general information
about the refurbishment programme and the safety concept of the Elbe Tunnel
again from Christina Kluge. She also described the lessons learned from
incidents happened at the Elbe Tunnel. Finally Rainer Petersen, LSBG Senior
Traffic Engineer, explained the new automatic system for fast incident
detection at the Elbe Tunnel.
Elbe Tunnel with Control Centre
One of the
highlights of the workshop in Hamburg was the visit to the Elbe Tunnel Control
Centre from where all tunnels are operated (Fig. 2). The four Elbe Tunnel Tubes
are connecting the southern urban area of greater Hamburg with the northern
part of the metropolis. Almost 124,000 vehicles per day are crossing under the
river Elbe in these four tubes and for this reason the Elbe Tunnel is one of
the busiest road tunnels in Europe. Some smaller incidents and a few vehicle
fires occur during a year. Moreover, the road authorities have structured to
manage traffic dynamically between the tubes. However, due to its
well-recognized safety concept the Elbe Tunnel is one of the safest road
tunnels worldwide. The new ventilation concept after upgrade and in the new
tube means that 64 jet fans realize the necessary ventilation under daily
operational conditions. In case of a fire 8 axial fans and 196 dampers extract
the smoke at both ends of the tunnel.
After a brief
introduction of the different functions of the control centre the COSUF members
learnt that the control room will be made fit for the three new road tunnels of
the extension of the motorway A7. The most adventurous part of the Elbe Tunnel
visit was the walk into one of the four tunnels with a spectacular
demonstration of the smoke extraction system (Fig. 3). The COSUF specialists
were very impressed by the organisation and the performance of this outstanding
Tunnel Control Centre.
Hochbahn Operating Centre
The afternoon
has been reserved for the second highlight of the Hamburg workshop, the visit
of the Operating Centre of the Hamburg Hochbahn (Fig. 4). From this Centre the
whole underground metro system (more than 100 km long) and large parts of the
bus system in Hamburg are operated by the Hamburger Hochbahn. Around 111 bus
routes and four underground lines in the Hamburg greater area under the control
of this Centre.
Joining ITA
COSUF is very easy. It´s not needed to be an ITA member and for this reason ITA
COSUF welcomes corporate and individual members.
Centre of Excellence
ITA COSUF is
the first committee of the ITA, the International Tunnelling and Underground
Space Association, founded in 2005. It is the Centre of Excellence consisting
of approx. 80 corporate member organisations and companies from 25 countries
all over the world. The World Road Association PIARC is also supporting ITA
COSUF. Since the very first beginning COSUF is a platform for communication on
operational safety and security in underground facilities. Only the best
specialists in the field of tunnelling are discussing in four different
activity groups about the latest developments.
Figures:
Figure 1: The participants of the ITA COSUF workshop in November 2015 in Hamburg/Germany
Figure 2: Elbe Tunnel Control Centre controlling 124,000 vehicles per day in four tunnel tubes
Figure 3: Very spectacular demonstration of the smoke extraction system in one of the Elbe Tunnel Tubes
Figure 4: Operating Centre of the Hamburg Hochbahn
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