ATS Tunnel systems sub group launched their inaugural workshop presentation on 31st March, hosting attendees online and at three venues: EA’s Sydney division offices, Aurecon’s Melbourne offices, and Stacey Agnew’s headquarters in Queensland.
The evening commenced with a presentation by industry icon Bob Allen, recounting his more than 30 years as Operations Manager for the Sydney Harbour Tunnel. Bob recalled the unique experiences involved in operating a system which pre-dated fibre-optic technologies, and the progressive updating of hardware over 30 years – from CRT and lightbulb indicators to the modern, high performance control centre in place today. Bob also discussed the challenges of maintaining his team’s preparedness for tunnel incidents, and lessons learned and incorporated into the operations knowledge base – particularly in regard to over-height vehicle deterrence and resilience.
Tunnel ventilation fan application specialist Lee Brown followed, with a presentation on the principles of aerodynamic stall ventilation fans, and means of mitigating through design and operation. Lee’s material discussed and illustrated the concepts as they related to fan design and selection, merits of anti-stall devices, piezoelectric stall detection, and the considerations to be made when operating variable speed fans in parallel configuration. Lee’s presentation garnered a number of questions from the audience relating to operating strategies, and efficiency considerations relating to anti-stall technology.
The presentations concluded with a primer on the state of AS 4825 development by Conrad Stacey, who is leading the working group for revision of the standard. Conrad outlined the significant developments to date, overviewing the modification of the standard into multiple parts covering road, rail and bus tunnels.
Refreshments at each venue followed. The event was well attended and a great success, and signals more good things to come in 2022 for the systems sub group, and the broader ATS.
