The Electrical Systems of Roadway Tunnels: Safety Design and Ecomanagement

This paper discusses the design criteria for the electrical systems of roadway tunnels with particular regard to the safety in the daily operation and in the case of fire events. It proposes a fit distribution system and an adaptive criterion for the support lighting system in order to minimize costs and energy impact. Electric systems of roadway tunnels need sophisticated architecture to allow the presence of extensively distributed loads and more stringent installation requirements due to the presence of fire hazard. Mechanical and electrical design criteria must be based on equipment qualification categories (EQCs), which are characterized by thermal inherent resistance and environmental parameters. Design criteria must include variable configurations to simplify installation, allow flexible operation, and optimize the cost-benefit ratio. A special power distribution, herein defined as “brush distribution,” and a temperature zone classification are proposed for road tunnels with a higher risk in the case of a fire event. Therefore, this paper suggests as design parameters the temperature exposure levels characterizing the thermal demand in each zones and the EQCs in order to choose the equipment with adequate thermal resistance.