Content area
Full Text
The latest information learned from recent road tunnel fires and research projects reveals that vehicle fires in tunnels are likely to develop more rapidly than expected, degrade the tenability of an environment more quickly than originally calculated, burn for longer periods and at higher temperatures than expected, and resist firefighting operations.
The 2008 edition of NFPA 502, Road Tunnels, Bridges and Other Limited Access Highways, includes revisions that further clarify the categorization of road tunnels and revisions to ventilation and tenable environments, protection of structural elements, hazardous goods transport, and design fire size. The discussion topics on fixed fire suppression systems in the Annex have also been revised.
Fire suppression systems
Although the use and effectiveness of fixed firefighting systems in road tunnels were not universally...