Feature
Tunnel classification according to ADR and dangerous goods transport network modification in gipuzkoa
Authors
Iulen Iturrizaga López Project Manager, Idom, San Sebastián
Jesús Sancho Cebrián Tunnel Safety Engineer
Javier Borja López Tunnel Safety Department Manager, both at Idom, Zaragoza (Spain) Member of the World Road Association Technical Committee on Road Tunnels Operations
Illustrations © ATC
The region of Gipuzkoa is one of the main communication hubs between Europe and the Iberian Peninsula and one of the two most heavily used international crossings across the Pyrenees. In addition to this, Gipuzkoa has a highly developed industrial network with several industries requiring the usage of dangerous goods to operate. Therefore, this region supports a heavy traffic of vehicles transporting such goods, either passing through or for local service.
Gipuzkoa is a very mountainous region and thus contains a high number of tunnels in its road network. There are 87 road tunnels with a combined length of 31,908 km or 4.6% of the total road network, including 18 tunnels with a length above 500 meters.