BETTER PARTSFear of the tube?
Munich, July 29, 2015
Who needs to go through a tunnel, which often does with a queasy feeling: The risk of being trapped in an accident in the middle and no longer get out, moves with many. In the past there were serious disasters such as the fire in the Tauern Tunnel in 1999 with twelve dead that fueled these fears. Also since 1999, testing of automobile club ADAC every year the Europe's most important tunnel to safety criteria and published ?? partly terrifying ?? Results.
20 14 "very good"
Meanwhile, however, the tubes are better than their reputation. According to the ADAC was primarily since the adoption of an EU directive laying down minimum requirements for safety in 2004 upwards. In the current test 2015 Auto Club now looks " the best result of all time ": 14 out of 20 examined tunnels in five European countries cut with "very good" and six tunnels with " good". A lower rating was none.
Berg Bock tunnel: Even with its own fire department
The winner of the German Berg Bock tunnel emerges on the A71 near Suhl. The two opened in 2002 and almost three kilometer long tubes are equipped with emergency and escape routes clearly marked, in the no smoke can penetrate. There are also a complete video surveillance and protected against noise Emergency stations with fire extinguishers. In addition, the tunnel has an automatic fire alarm system, emergency routes passable, well-trained staff and even has its own fire brigade. Almost on par are in Germany, the Rennsteig Tunnel ( A71 at Zella-Mehlis ) and Jagdberg ( A4 at Jena ), and in Austria the Roppener Tunnel ( A12 near Imst ).
The fewest points in the test gets the Swiss Gotthard tunnel on the A2 ( Basel Chiasso ?? ). The biggest shortcoming of the nearly 17-kilometer mountain crossing: There is only one tube, which is operated in two-way traffic. The potential risk is according to the ADAC made mainly from high truck share of around 17,500 vehicles use daily the route.
Noise interferes with emergency
While there are no major shortfalls in the pipes tested, but the testers had a lot to complain about: So when half of the tunnel, the walls were not painted bright. In one quarter, there were at least during the week day congestion in the tunnel. And with as many worked the understanding of the emergency difficult because of the non-shielded from traffic noise. The often too short working duration of respirators for fire brigade is contested. The individual results of the test, we show in an overview in our gallery . ( hd )