Tauern Tunnel Site Visit
This is a unique chance to gain first hand experience of the Tauern Tunnel’s fire protection and safety systems to generate ideas on how to attain the very best fire safety strategy and significantly reduce risk within your tunnel.
Participants will have the opportunity to be guided through the Tauern Tunnel by ASFINAG to identify what key installations and evacuation procedures have been implemented to dramatically improve overall tunnel safety standards following the 1999 fire incident. This tour will demonstrate how to analyse risk and determine those crucial steps that must be taken for increased protection of your tunnels and its users.
About Tauern Tunnel:
The Tauern Tunnel is located in the Austrian federal state of Salzburg in Austria on the Tauern Autobahn north - south connection between Germany and Italy and Slovenia. This tunnel ranks as one of the longest frequently-travelled road tunnels in Austria.
On May 29, 1999 a fire took place in Tauern Tunnel in which twelve people were killed and fifty injured. As far as investigators could determine, eight people were killed by the force of the collision of the truck while four further victims died from the fire which followed. This was exacerbated by hazardous materials on one of the vehicles involved in the collision.
The tunnel was so badly damaged by the heat from the fire that it had to be closed for three months for repairs during which major work was undertaken to improve the barriers, tunnel walls and ventilation system. The tunnel was officially reopened on August 28, 1999.
