Fogtec - Fire Protection

Road tunnels

save lives, protect building structures, reduce costs

Despite the considerable fire loads and restricted evacuation routes, protection of tunnel users and the construction itself needs to be guaranteed in tunnels. The minimum requirement for all protection concepts is that evacuation is possible. Fixed firefighting systems fight fires in tunnels so quickly and effectively that major heat build-up in locations other than the fire source itself can be virtually avoided. The quantity of smoke is reduced by limiting the fire in such a way that the remaining volume of smoke can be significantly decreased by means of cooling. Conditions for survival are significantly improved as a result, so that controlled evacuation is usually made possible for a significantly longer time.

Damage to the tunnel and the effect on the building structure from heat and smoke are reduced to the same degree.

In many cases, there is no need for constructural fire protection measures like the use of fire protection panels, fewer escape routes are required, and ventilation and smoke extraction systems can be designed significantly smaller. All this generally leads to considerable cost savings.

Since damage to the tunnel is reduced significantly in event of fire, this means tunnel downtimes are considerably shorter as well. Overall availability of the tunnel is thus significantly increased. Firefighting systems can also generally be installed much faster than building fire protection measures so that the economic damage is less, and there are fewer losses with respect to tolls. Generally speaking, investment and life cycle costs are reduced.

Rail tunnel

comprehensive protection

In contrast to road tunnels, the danger of accidents in rail tunnels is significantly lower as monitoring of vehicles is usually better and they are driven by professional drivers. However, any disasters due to technical defects can still lead to major damage. Especially in long tunnels, technical failures are highly problematic. Escape routes can also often only be provided with great difficulty at adequate intervals  for evacuation. Complete protection of a rail tunnel or the set-up of firefighting stations that trains being on fire can drive into, often constitutes a low-cost alternative for operators in order to be able to guarantee safety for passenger transport and availability of the tunnel for freight traffic. FOGTEC firefighting systems can usually be incorporated into a rail tunnel faster and at lower cost and can compensate for shortcomings in fire protection.

Cable tunnels

sensitive risk of fire

Fires in cable tunnels can rapidly lead to considerable damage to public infrastructure. The risk is not so much for people, but rather damage to expensive technical equipment and long downtimes, which can affect data transfer or power supply of entire towns or cities. Due to the electronic equipment and highly flammable materials such as cables or plastic casings, the risk of fire is relatively high.

FOGTEC systems are ideal for the protection of cable ducts and tunnels as they can be integrated in a space saving way and at low cost into existing technical environment. Water mist cools the equipment and controls the fire while the small water quantities limit consequential damages.

FOGTEC is currently fitting a firefighting system as part of one of the largest cable tunnel projects in the world in Singapore.

Metro systems

smart concepts

FOGTEC develops and supplies special fire protection concepts for metro systems and underground traffic systems that include stations, tunnels and vehicles. The holistic approach considers the overall construction, technical conditions and existing fire protection concepts. The concepts can be used both for existing traffic junctions and for the planning of new public underground infrastructure.