Guidelines for the officer-in-charge for fighting fires in road tunnels immediately following a report

The stability of road tunnels in the Netherlands is not guaranteed in the event of extreme fires (with very high fire capacities of approximately 200 megawatts and more) resulting from fires in the cargo of trucks and tankers). The non-guaranteed fire resistance of the concrete of (national road) tunnels means that the constructive stability of a road tunnel is jeopardized more quickly.

As a result of this non-guaranteed fire resistance, the reinforcement is exposed (more quickly). Partly on the advice of the Safety Officer for Road Tunnels, the tunnel managers have made short-term operational arrangements per tunnel with the competent authority and the Safety Region in the municipality concerned. The reduced fire resistance also has consequences for the investigation by the officer-in-charge immediately after the report and for the decision to deploy. The Knowledge Platform for Tunnel Safety (KPT) asked Nils Rosmuller, lecturer in Energy and Transport Safety at the IFV, to think about the possibilities for firefighting in such tunnels. In consultation with Brandweer Nederland, Rijkswaterstaat and the IFV  Brandweeracademie, resources for officers-in-charge have been developed. This document presents the tools that have been developed (decision diagram and operational capability table) as well as the process of their creation and ideas about the section on ‘concrete spalling’ in the development of the decision diagram.