Inside the secrets keeping the Tunnel going
THE TYNE TUNNEL IS A VITAL ROUTE IN THE REGION
DEEP under ground, one of the region’s most vital arteries keeps going night and day.
The Tyne Tunnel is one of the most important routes in the North East, ensuring commuters and freight can cross the river, keeping the economy moving.
With as many as 64,000 cars passing through every day, it’s a critical part of the region’s infrastructure.
But few know the full extent of the complex systems that need to kept running 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, to make sure motorists are safe when they descend beneath the Tyne.
Behind the scenes, hidden corridors and hi-tech equipment ensure that drivers disappearing beneath the surface are kept safe – or could be rescued if they needed to be.
The bulk of the equipment is in place to prevent the worst nightmare of the people tasked with keeping it safe: fire.
In 1999, 38 people died when a truck caught alight and motorists were trapped in a downwind of toxic fumes in the Mount Blanc Tunnel.
It led to a revolution in tunnel safety standards.
Ron Henderson, 55, of TT2, the private firm who oversees the day to day running of both tunnels, is unequivocal about the quality of his operation: “It’s the safest tunnel in the UK”. So how does it all work? Mr Henderson, who has worked his way up to the position of tunnel manager over a 33 year career, showed us behind the scenes.
People’s safety in the tunnel is largely in the hands of the Automatic Incident Detection Video Based System.
The smart technology uses a network of 120 cameras to monitor traffic constantly and can recognise stopped vehicles, people driving in the wrong direction and smoke.
That’s not to say there isn’t a human hand involved – there’s someone stationed in the control centre 24/7 monitoring a wall of screens and ready to intervene when something goes wrong.
But the computer has a great deal of autonomy and has the ability to activate the sprinkler ‘mist’ system and close down the tunnel if human action isn’t taken within two minutes.
Mr Henderson said: “That’s the level of automation we have. The computer will takeover if staff don’t act. We don’t even need to send people into the tunnel to deal with
fires anymore, the mist system deals with that.”
The system is so comprehensive that the tunnel is virtually fireproof, Mr Henderson said.
“People should always evacuate but in the event of someone not being able to get out of their car or being reluctant to, they would still be safe”, he added.
“When there have been tragedies in tunnels before it’s been caused by fire spreading from one vehicle to another. That isn’t going to happen with this system.”
Luckily, it has never had to be put to use but a very similar system used on a tunnel in Dartford has extinguished car fires with ease on two occasions.
There are also restrictions on flammable and radioactive cargoes passing through and staff have the right to search vehicles to make sure materials which might pose a threat to passengers aren’t taken into the tunnel.
The web of cameras also helps spot more human errors, Mr Henderson said: “We’ve had people drive through the tunnels the wrong way, we’ve had people try to go through on mobility scooters.
“A big part of what we need to do is manage drivers to make sure those sort of things don’t happen.”
Inside the tunnel by the side of the road, there is a little door every 100m which leads onto a hidden escape route.
The evacuation tunnel, which is encased inside concrete and impervious to fire, provides a safe route out in the event of an evacuation. When a door is opened, huge extractor fans pull air through the tunnel to ensure no smoke gets inside and people escaping can breathe fresh air. There are also jet fans in place, ready to kick in if smoke and poisonous fumes started filling the air.
Keeping all of this running costs money – and anyone who has used the system knows that its coming out of everyday motorists’ pockets.
The tolls, which are set by the North East Combined Authority, completely independently of TT2, also need to service the huge debt racked up building the tunnel which opened in 2011.
Local authorities loaned £282m for the project and shifted the everyday running of the tunnel to TT2 in the private sector, a move which saw staff levels halved to less than 60.
TT2 are tasked with collecting that money, pumping it back into running costs and handing the rest back to the council’s so they can repay the banks.
Mr Henderson says he believes people will accept a toll as long as they’re getting value for money.
He said: “It’s a critical piece of the North East’s infrastructure – if the tunnel stops, the region stops. We’re serving places like Nissan and Cobalt so it’s important for the business community that we keep things moving.
“I think people are happy to pay a toll when they get a good service. The tunnel receives no public funding and, without that, it simply wouldn’t be open which would be good for no one.”
Despite reduced traffic due to the Silverlink roadworks costing the operators a ‘fortune,’ Mr Henderson says there’s no reason a spike in the toll will be imminent or outside of inflation.