Traffic Tech installs tunnel management system in Qatar airport project

Traffic Tech (Gulf), in partnership with Telegra, has installed the Tunnel Management System in the newly opened Ras Abu Aboud Tunnel in Qatar. The US$200 million project involved the construction of new bridges, two underpasses and the 350m tunnel. The New Doha International Airport (NDIA) Steering Committee oversaw the project, which was a joint venture between Yuksel Insaat and local contractor MIDMAC. The tunnel – regarded as a vital central feature of the airport – links Wakrah Road and Doha’s waterfront promenade, the Corniche.

Traffic Tech’s management system is equipped with highly advanced ITS components, providing real-time traveler information, vehicle guidance, lane control, automatic incident detection, speed enforcement, and an automated and synchronized system configuration that manages emergency incidents. In addition, the tunnel is equipped with lane lights for increased lane visibility, as well as three Overheight Vehicle Detection Systems that will restrict entry of vehicles over 5.5m. All other tunnel components – including emergency telephones, fire alarm system, illumination, ventilation system, and surveillance cameras – are also integrated to the system, and are monitored and operated via a graphical user interface (GUI) located in the tunnel’s control room.

Left: The tunnel – part of the last stage of the Ras Abu Aboud Road project launched by the New Doha International Airport Steering Committee – is a two-lane link that facilitates traffic in one direction, from the Corniche to Ras Abu Aboud

The 16m-wide cut-and-cover tunnel took 12 months to complete. “This tunnel has a watch room that contains the latest updates from cameras and pollution measuring devices to calculate the vehicles pollution,” says Abdul Aziz Al Noaimi, CEO of the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority and NDIA Steering Committee. “As soon as it reaches a specific limit of pollution, the system lets other automated devices refresh the air inside the tunnel.”
 

21 January 2010