Refurbishment & Upgrading 

When the tunnel equipment no longer fulfils the needs of the operator or the tunnel users or when the requirements of legislation or the characteristic of the traffic has changed, it may be necessary to upgrade the tunnel. 

The need for pre-planned work can be the consequence of, for instance, new regulations or opportunities to improve equipment, its functionality, safety or energy-efficiency, or to reduce preventive maintenance requirements. There may be a further occasional need to replace equipment due to age deterioration. Major work will usually be treated as special projects. 

Activities may include: 

• Improving the ventilation to cope with new demands either outside the tunnel or in the tunnel; 
• Installing new equipment with new technology, better performance and / or lower maintenance cost (the cost may still rise because additional systems are installed), for instance new and more innovative Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems may be helpful to the operator;
• Coordination of the tunnel with the adjoining road network regarding traffic operation, information and control;
• Structural repairs or modifications;
• Improving the escape routes or emergency routes (structural modifications and/or signing).

This chapter of the Manual is broken down into six pages:

• General planning
• Safety issues
• Environmental questions
• Construction site organization
• Traffic Management
• Ventilation issues.