{"id":24613,"date":"2018-01-26T09:57:25","date_gmt":"2018-01-26T08:57:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ferrovial.com\/blog\/?p=24613"},"modified":"2025-12-12T00:28:44","modified_gmt":"2025-12-11T23:28:44","slug":"how-emergency-teams-prepare-for-an-accident-in-a-motorway-tunnel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ferrovial.com\/blog\/en\/2018\/01\/how-emergency-teams-prepare-for-an-accident-in-a-motorway-tunnel\/","title":{"rendered":"How emergency teams prepare for an accident in a motorway tunnel"},"content":{"rendered":"

A bus carrying 25 passengers and a private vehicle with several people have suffered a serious accident in a motorway tunnel. Few situations are more dangerous than this: there are people involved, smoke, poor visibility and confusion. The emergency services receive the first call within minutes.<\/p>\n

What happens next? Emergency protocol E2-FUE-02 (Fire in vehicle) is activated. Shortly afterwards the fire brigade arrives, and just half an hour later all the people affected have been evacuated and the situation is under control. It was a drill, all the parties involved (tunnel control centre, a team of First Responders, fire brigade, 112 emergency service, Civil Guard, rescue teams and authorities) have acted in accordance with a perfectly defined protocol which ensures that all of these services and the large number of specialists and technical systems involved work like clockwork.<\/p>\n

\"signal<\/a><\/p>\n

The drill took place in the Casares Tunnel<\/span><\/b><\/a> last November. This tunnel on the <\/span>Autopista del Sol<\/span><\/a> a motorway managed by Cintra <\/span>is located between Estepona and Guadiaro, in the province of Mlaga. Its construction finished in 2002. The tunnel itself runs for more than a kilometre, with a double tube design, a maximum height of 10.05 metres and two lanes in each direction. Some 15,500 vehicles travel through it every day, of which approximately 1% are heavy vehicles transporting dangerous goods.<\/p>\n

Planning and protocols<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Operation of tunnels of this type requires the drawing up of a plan covering every possible incident (vehicle breakdowns, accidents, fire, filtrations, etc.),<\/b> including the corresponding response protocols. Longer tunnels generally have auxiliary service galleries; the Casares Tunnel has two technical control rooms from which to supervise all of the tunnels safety equipment. Knowing all this makes it possible to identify risks and develop appropriate responses. The ultimate aim is to ensure that users are as safe within the tunnel as when they travel out in the open along the rest of the motorway.<\/p>\n

Emergency plans<\/b> define a coordinated response between the various emergency services, with a view to ensuring that actions are clear and efficient<\/span>, with the capacity to provide a fast response 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, access to databases and evacuation of the tunnel.<\/span><\/p>\n

The tunnel has its own safety systems, <\/b>such as ventilation, lighting, CO detectors, SOS posts, emergency exits, linear fire detection, public speaker systems, more than ten cameras (and the same number of external cameras) in each tube, all connected through optic fibre. There are also several groups of traffic lights, both within and outside the tunnel, as well as information panels with traffic indications and speed limits. All of these systems are controlled from a central unit and backed up by a stand-alone electricity generator for the event of a power cut.<\/p>\n\n\t\t