Skip to main content

Colorado tunnels get funds for fire suppression system

The Colorado Transportation Commission has approved US$10 million to retrofit a fixed fire suppression system in the Eisenhower-Johnson Memorial Tunnels (EJMT) because there is no way for fire-fighters to safely and effectively respond to a fire. Located around 60 miles west of Denver, at an elevation of more than 11,000 feet, the EJMT is the highest vehicular tunnel in the world and carries an average of approximately 30,000 vehicles per day, or over ten million vehicles per year. Once the fire suppr
October 28, 2013 Read time: 1 min
The Colorado Transportation Commission has approved US$10 million to retrofit a fixed fire suppression system in the Eisenhower-Johnson Memorial Tunnels (EJMT) because there is no way for fire-fighters to safely and effectively respond to a fire.

Located around 60 miles west of Denver, at an elevation of more than 11,000 feet, the EJMT is the highest vehicular tunnel in the world and carries an average of approximately 30,000 vehicles per day, or over ten million vehicles per year.

Once the fire suppression system is in place, it would not be used to extinguish vehicle fires on its own, but to keep the fire cool enough to buy fire-fighters enough time to move the vehicle out of the tunnel before the flames become too hot.

Related Content

  • Arup reveals its vision of the future of rail
    July 2, 2014
    Engineering and consulting firm Arup has unveiled its vision of the future of rail travel in the light of trends such as urban population growth, climate change and emerging technologies. The Future of Rail 2050 foresees predictive maintenance of rail lines by robot drones; driverless trains travelling safely at high speed, freight delivered automatically to its destination, and smart technology designed to improve passenger experience and enable ticketless travel. According to Colin Stewart, Global
  • Machine vision - cameras for intelligent traffic management
    January 25, 2012
    For some, machine vision is the coming technology. For others, it’s already here. Although it remains a relative newcomer to the ITS sector, its effects look set to be profound and far-reaching. Encapsulating in just a few short words the distinguishing features of complex technologies and their operating concepts can sometimes be difficult. Often, it is the most subtle of nuances which are both the most important and yet also the most easily lost. Happily, in the case of machine vision this isn’t the case:
  • Receiving real time passenger information in Finland
    February 3, 2012
    David Crawford sees lively prospects for Finnish innovation
  • Smart Cities put people, prudence and businesses before technology
    December 4, 2014
    Caroline Haynes tells ITS International that transport planners and equipment suppliers need to adopt different thinking and the smartest cities don’t call themselves smart. The term Smart Cities has been around for some time and has become something of a catch-all term applied to novel or futuristic technology deployed in an urban setting.