Field evacuation experiment in a long inclined tunnel
2022 (English) In: Fire safety journal, ISSN 0379-7112, E-ISSN 1873-7226, Vol. 132, article id 103640Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
An evacuation experiment was carried out at the Äspö Hard Rock Laboratory in March 2018 to investigate human behaviour during evacuation in underground facilities via escape routes with long ascending tunnels. The objective of the experiment was to collect data that could be used as a basis for evacuation risk and safety assessments in underground tunnels and other large infrastructure projects related to e.g., mining. In total, 32 participants individually ascended the 907Â m long tunnel with an inclination of 14%. During the evacuation, each participant’s walking speed, vertical walking speed, heart rate and estimated physical exertion was documented. The measured walking speeds were found to be higher than the walking speeds obtained in previous experiments, but the vertical walking speeds were lower. The strategy of 44% of the participants was to adjust their walking speed to a pace they thought could be maintained over a longer distance. The results of this experiment show that the walking speed decreased as the level of perceived exertion increased. Moreover, the results indicate that the walking speed and the level of perceived exertion stabilized during the movement along the tunnel.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages Elsevier, 2022. Vol. 132, article id 103640
Keywords [en]
Evacuation, Ascending evacuation, Physical exertion, Walking speed, Vertical walking speed
National Category
Other Civil Engineering
Research subject Structural Engineering
Identifiers URN: urn:nbn:se:ltu:diva-92417 DOI: 10.1016/j.firesaf.2022.103640 ISI: 000855909100004 Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85135507991 OAI: oai:DiVA.org:ltu-92417 DiVA, id: diva2:1686245
Funder Swedish Transport Administration Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Company, SKB
Note Validerad;2022;Nivå 2;2022-08-09 (hanlid);
Funder: TUSC (Tunnel and Underground Safety Center); RISE Research Institutes of Sweden; Swedish Fortifications Agency; Svemin’s Health and Safety Committee (GRAMKO)
2022-08-092022-08-092022-10-25 Bibliographically approved