ANRACI Reports The Manual For The Design, Construction, Operation And Maintenance Of Road Tunnels For Colombia Adopted

The Minister of Transportation, Dr. Ángela María Orozco Gómez, adopted the Manual for the Design, Construction, Operation and Maintenance of Road Tunnels for Colombia through Resolution 20213040058015 of December 2, 2021.

Scope of the manual

The manual includes the general and necessary requirements for the management of planning, design, construction, operation and maintenance of tunnels, which covers the general guidelines and guidelines to be implemented by public entities of national and territorial order, when in their projects include road tunnels.

This is intended to ensure that the management of planning, design, execution and operation of viable projects have a technical-economic balance and advance with the highest standards, in terms of safety, efficiency and sustainability.

Tunnels Manual

A fire quickly causes severe damage to infrastructure, which is why safety plans are necessary

The Tunnels Manual states that the events that have occurred in existing tunnels have drastically shown that fire is the most serious threat to them given their special conditions, such as the limited availability of escape routes, the difficulty of approaching the emergency services (usually obstructed by vehicles ) and the limited space for the outlet of polluting smoke. These features are additional aggravating factors for the panic reactions associated with these types of events.

Added to this are the danger of poisoning from toxic smoke and the tremendous increase in temperature, when a vehicle catches fire. A fire quickly causes severe damage to infrastructure, which is why safety plans are necessary to increase people's chances of survival, keep damage of all kinds to a minimum and ensure the availability of facilities.

Following safety requirements in tunnels

Even fires at power stations, alcoves and equipment rooms, which are usually not life-threatening, can cause severe damage to equipment and affect tunnel availability. The following safety requirements in tunnels have been mostly referenced from the NFPA502 2020 edition standard.

For ANRACI, it has been a pride to participate and accompany the construction of this important document for Colombia, from the Fire Protection Guild, it is very important to strengthen the concepts and technical criteria around the specialty and in this way promote a higher level of security for users of infrastructure in the country.

Strengthen design, construction and maintenance processes

ANRACI appreciates the management and leadership carried out by Engineer - Hermes Mauricio Alvarado Sachica, who has always shown his professionalism and excellent disposition to strengthen the design, construction and maintenance processes described in the Tunnels Manual.