Directive 2004/54/EC of the European Parliament and of the CouncilShow full title

ANNEX II Approval of the design, safety documentation, commissioning of a tunnel, modifications and periodic exercises

1. Approval of the design

1.1. The provisions of this Directive shall be applied from the preliminary design stage onward.

1.2. Before any construction work begins, the Tunnel Manager shall compile the safety documentation described under points 2.2 and 2.3 for a tunnel at the design stage and shall consult the Safety Officer. The Tunnel Manager shall submit the safety documentation to the Administrative Authority and attach the opinion of the Safety Officer, and/or of the Inspection Entity when available.

1.3. The design, as appropriate, shall be approved by the responsible authority, which shall inform the Tunnel Manager and the Administrative Authority of its decision.

2. Safety documentation

2.1. The Tunnel Manager shall compile safety documentation for each tunnel and keep it permanently up-to-date. He shall provide a copy of the safety documentation to the Safety Officer.

2.2. The safety documentation shall describe the preventive and safeguard measures needed to ensure the safety of users, taking into account people with reduced mobility and disabled people, the nature of the route, the configuration of the structure, its surroundings, the nature of the traffic and the scope for action by the emergency services defined in Article 2 of the Directive.

2.3. In particular, the safety documentation for a tunnel at the design stage shall include:

• a description of the planned structure and access to it, together with the plans necessary for understanding its design and anticipated operating arrangements,

• a traffic forecast study specifying and justifying the conditions expected for the transport of dangerous goods, together with the risk analysis requested by point 3.7 of Annex I,

• a specific hazard investigation describing possible accidents which clearly affect safety of road users in tunnels which might occur during the operating stage and the nature and magnitude of their possible consequences; this investigation must specify and substantiate measures for reducing the likelihood of accidents and their consequences,

• an opinion on safety from an expert or organisation specialising in this field, which could be the Inspection Entity.

2.4. The safety mentation for a tunnel which is at the commissioning stage shall includein addtion to the documentation required at the design stage:

• a description of the organisation, human and material resources and instructions specified by the Tunnel Manager to ensure operation and maintenance of the tunnel,

• an emergency response plan drawn up jointly with the emergency services which also takes into account people with reduced mobility and disabled people,

• a description of the system of permanent feedback of experience through which significant incidents and accidents can be recorded and analysed.

2.5. The safety documentation for a tunnel which is in operation shall include in addtion to the documentation required at the commissioning stage:

• a report and analysis on significant incidents and accidents, which have taken place since the entry into force of this Directive,

• a list of the safety exercises carried out and an analysis of the lessons learned from them.

3. Commissioning

3.1. The initial opening of a tunnel to public traffic shall be subject to authorisation by the Administrative Authority (commissioning) in accordance with the following procedure.

3.2. This procedure also applies to the opening of a tunnel to public traffic after any major change in construction or operation or any substantial modification work on the tunnel which might significantly alter any of the constituent components of the safety documentation.

3.3. The Tunnel Manager shall transmit the safety documentation mentioned in point 2.4 to the Safety Officer, who shall give his opinion on the opening of the runnel to public traffic.

3.4. The Tunnel Manager shall forward this safety documentation to the Administrative Authority, and shall attach the opinion of the Safety Officer. The Administrative Authority shall decide whether or not to authorise the opening of the tunnel to public traffic, or whether to do so with restrictive conditions, and shall notify this to the Tunnel Manager. A copy of this decision shall be forwarded to the emergency services.

4. Modifications

4.1. For any substantial modification in the structure, equipment or operation, which might significantly alter any of the constituent components of the safety documentation, the Tunnel Manager shall ask for a new authorisation of operation following the procedure described under point 3).

4.2. The Tunnel Manager shall inform the Safety Officer of any other change in construction and operation. Furthermore, prior to any modification work on the tunnel, the Tunnel Manager shall provide the Safety Officer with documentation detailing the proposals.

4.3. The Safety Officer shall examine the consequences of the modification and in any event give his opinion to the Tunnel Manager, who shall send a copy to the Administrative Authority and to the emergency services.

5. Periodic exercises

The Tunnel Manager and the emergency services shall, in cooperation with the Safety Officer, organise joint periodic exercises for tunnel staff and the emergency services.

Exercises:

should be as realistic as possible and should correspond to the defined incident scenarios,

should yield clear evaluation results,

should prevent any damage to the tunnel,

may also, in part, be conducted as table top or computer simulation exercises for complementary results.

(a)

Full scale exercises under conditions that are as realistic as possible shall be conducted in each tunnel at least every four years. Tunnel closure will only be required if acceptable arrangements can be made for diverting traffic. Partial and/or simulation exercises shall be conducted every year in between. In areas where several tunnels are located in close proximity to each other, a full scale exercise must be conducted in at least one of those tunnels.

(b)

The Safety Officer and the emergency services shall evaluate jointly these exercises draw up a report and make appropriate proposals.