Fire sprinklers are widely accepted as a fundamental building safety feature. Yet, in transportation tunnels where fires grow faster and hotter and exits are farther away, fire sprinklers were prohibited until recently and are still not required in underground rail public assembly areas. Fires in transportation tunnels have resulted in deaths, severe damage to tunnel structures and systems, and costly closures, all of which are preventable with fire sprinklers. The inability to suppress a fire unnecessarily exposes hazardous materials in road tunnels to potentially extreme heat and failing containment, and it sometimes allows hazardous materials to react to heat with extreme consequences. This results in the preventative rerouting of hazardous materials around tunnels at considerable expense to shipping. But we know that fire sprinklers are routinely used to protect hazardous materials manufacturing, processing, storage, and handling outside tunnels. This practice is used in four US road tunnels, which routinely allow unrestricted hazardous materials specifically because of the presence of fire sprinkler systems. Adding fire sprinklers to existing road tunnels could prevent tunnel fires from growing beyond the capability of the undersized ventilation systems which exist in many tunnels. Adding sprinklers could be less expensive than difficult ventilation upgrades. Including sprinklers in new tunnels can limit the fire growth rate and maximum heat release rate and thus reduce the ventilation size as well as passive fire system costs. If life safety is a primary consideration, fire sprinklers should be a cornerstone to improving public safety in transportation tunnels, as they protect occupants from fire as well as allow the safe passage of hazardous materials.


    Zugriff

    Download

    Verfügbarkeit in meiner Bibliothek prüfen

    Bestellung bei Subito €


    Exportieren, teilen und zitieren



    Titel :

    Transportation Tunnel Fire Sprinklers and Opportunities


    Weitere Titelangaben:

    Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board


    Beteiligte:
    English, Gary (Autor:in)


    Erscheinungsdatum :

    12.12.2024




    Medientyp :

    Aufsatz (Zeitschrift)


    Format :

    Elektronische Ressource


    Sprache :

    Englisch



    Sprinklers and the 5MW fire: time to think again?

    Whitely, B. | British Library Online Contents | 1997


    Explaining sprinklers

    Boyt, A. | British Library Online Contents | 1994




    Sprinklers in action

    British Library Online Contents | 1994