In its tenth edition, EuroTAP -European Tunnel Assessment Programme- has ranked the Loma de Bas tunnel, on the AP7 Cartagena–Vera motorway as the safest in Spain and  the Pont Pla Tunnel in Andorra as the best in Europe.

The tenth edition of EuroTAP -European Tunnel Assessment Programme-, in which the RACC has been involved, has determined the safety of 31 tunnels in 11 European countries, finding that the Loma de Bas tunnel -Lorca, Murcia-, on the AP7 motorway between Cartagena and Vera, built by FCC, is the best in Spain and one of the best in Europe.

EuroTAP highlights the fact that the Loma de Bas tunnel, which is 1,797 metres long, came into service in 2007 and not a single breakdown or accident has yet been recorded. The study values very highly the two-tube design with one carriageway per tube, together with the tunnel’s 24-hour CCTV surveillance by trained personnel and linking passageways between the two tubes every 360 that can be used as additional escape and rescue routes.  EuroTAP has also taken into account that this infrastructure is also equipped with evacuation lighting for its exit routes, SOS telephones and fire extinguishers every 125 metres and radio communications for rescue personnel available along the entire length of the tunnel.

The Loma de Bas tunnel is also a pioneering project because of its automatic alarm system, which triggers the ventilation automatically in the case of a fire. EuroTAP’s Express found that this Spanish infrastructure has good access for rescue vehicles with tubes every 360 metres, and further highlighted the existence of a comprehensive, fully updated emergency-response plan.

With its assessment system, EuroTAP values: the tunnel system, lighting, power supply, interior communication, escape routes, rescue, protection against fire, ventilation, traffic and traffic control, and emergency management.

EuroTAP inspections are performed on site by independent professionals with experience in underground works.

They also interview the operators of the tunnels they inspect to clarify points related to tunnel users’ safety, inspecting all the emergency documents and protocols in place.

FCC Construcción, one of Spain’s leading construction and services firms, has considerable experience of building underground structures dating back over 100 years. It has built tunnels of many different types: roads, railways, metro systems and water supplies.  It has been involved in building such major tunnels as the 28-kilometre Guadarrama tunnels and the M30 tunnels in Madrid. The company is currently building several new tunnels, including those at Pajares (25 Km), for the León-Asturias HST line, and La Cabrera tunnel (7,157m), where it has set a new world tunnel-boring record with a rate of 86 metres per day. FCC is also building major tunnels abroad, including the St Gothard tunnel in Switzerland — at 57 kilometres, the longest tunnel in the world — through its Austrian subsidiary, Alpine.