Feature
Challenges related to winter operations in urban highway tunnels
Author
Alexandre Debs Section Head, Integrated Traffic Management Centre, Ministère des Transports du Québec, Canada-Québec. Member of the World Road Association Technical Committee 3.3 on Road Tunnels Operations
Illustrations © Ministère des transports du Québec
Every year, Montréal is plunged into winter with the arrival of the first snowfall, experiencing typical monthly temperatures ranging from -6.3°C to -10.2°C, with frequent extremes as low as -25 °C in January and February. In addition, we have experienced wider ranges between the daily highs and lows during the last six years, with the highs often reaching the freezing point, which causes freeze-thaw cycles and the resulting formation of icicles in the tunnels.