Skip to main content

Improving safety at Mersey Tunnel

Consultant Parsons Brinckerhoff will upgrade the fire fighting systems in the Mersey Tunnel in the UK. This move will improve the tunnel’s safety measures and bring it into line with stringent new requirements being introduced right across Europe. Under the terms of the deal international consultant Parsons Brinckerhoff has a contract to help Merseyside Integrated Transport Authority upgrade and modernise fire fighting systems in the Kingsway tunnels, which are two of the longest road tunnels in the UK. The
April 19, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
Consultant 4983 Parsons Brinckerhoff will upgrade the fire fighting systems in the Mersey Tunnel in the UK. This move will improve the tunnel’s safety measures and bring it into line with stringent new requirements being introduced right across Europe. Under the terms of the deal international consultant Parsons Brinckerhoff has a contract to help Merseyside Integrated Transport Authority upgrade and modernise fire fighting systems in the Kingsway tunnels, which are two of the longest road tunnels in the UK. The twin bore tunnels run 2.25km between Liverpool and Wallasey under the River Mersey and were originally built in the 1970s. The fire fighting infrastructure is now in need of upgrade to meet European regulations, which were introduced following fatalities in serious tunnel fires in Austria and Switzerland. Parsons Brinckerhoff is evaluating the existing fire fighting facilities in the twin tunnels and will design new systems along with nearly 100 fire hydrant points along the routes. The company has assisted the client in its selection of a main contractor and will now provide management and inspection services throughout the contractor’s installation contract. The demanding programme has seen Parsons Brinckerhoff leading feasibility, detailed design and programme management in close coordination with the client and other stakeholders including the emergency services. Final design proposals cover the tunnels and approach highways and include an installation approach to minimise disruption. Maintaining the integrity of the fire fighting protection on this busy commuter route during the works is essential and passenger safety has been a major priority

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Smoothing out city freight movements
    May 28, 2014
    David Crawford welcomes a national first. Urban freight movements, while commercially and socially vital, are a growing logistical headache for planners and people alike. Figures from France’s Lyon Laboratory of Transport Economics indicate that goods transport in major urban areas accounts for: 20% of traffic; 35% of CO2 emissions made by all urban trips; and 50% of the diesel used; while final km delivery runs account for 20% of the total cost of the transport chain.
  • Electrosonic installs Hindhead tunnel control room display
    December 3, 2012
    The twin-bore Hindhead tunnel in southern England has made the A3 London to Portsmouth route safer and more efficient, aided by the large overview video wall and operator consoles installed in the control room by Electrosonic, working with main contractor Balfour Beatty Engineering Services for the Highways Agency. To meet the Highways Agency’s requirement that the control room should operate in a similar way to other traffic control rooms on the major road network, Electrosonic devised a solution based on
  • Moscow planning improvements to city’s ITS system
    March 17, 2016
    Buoyed by the success of its recent ITS introductions, the authorities in Moscow are planning additions to the system as Eugene Gerden discovered. The government of Russia’s capital, Moscow, plans further improvement to the city’s transport systems, partly through the introduction of new ITS technologies and the modernisation of existing systems. At the beginning of 2015 the Moscow government completed the introduction of a new ITS infrastructure in the city, which, according to Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin
  • British Columbia's highway corridors show it’s good to share
    June 6, 2025
    The Canadian province is advocating harmony along its major roads, setting aside major funding for projects to allow vehicles and other modes to operate safely side by side, reports David Arminas