Siemens is supplying an operations management and traffic control system to the value of around 57 million euros for a road project on the Turkish coast of the Black Sea. For a total of 29 tunnels, Siemens will be installing a central control station with seven control substations as well as the entire technical infrastructure with traffic control, fire protection, fire fighting, power supply, lighting, and ventilation systems as well as communication and camera monitoring equipment with automatic event detection. The route will be one of the most progressive stretches of road in the world in terms of its traffic management and control equipment. Handover of the turnkey project to the operator, the Turkish freeway management authority KGM (Karayollari Genel Müdürlügü), is scheduled to take place in 18 months.

The freeway management authority, KGM, is currently building a new 350 kilometer-long 4-lane road from Espiye to Sarp Batumi along the coast of the Black Sea in the direction of Georgia's border. The aim is to relieve the pressure on the existing winding coast road, above all, that caused by the increasing amount of long-distance heavy-goods traffic, and thus improve the traffic situation on this section of the coast. 23 tunnels with a total length of more than 28 kilometers will be equipped by Siemens and the other six existing tunnels with a length of more than nine kilometers will be integrated in the overall structure.

The heart of the new traffic management and control system from Siemens is the integrated Sitraffic ITCC operations and traffic control center which will be built in Trabzon, one of the main towns in the area. From there, all the control and monitoring processes of the 29 tunnels will be coordinated. The center will not only handle the traffic but will also look after the lighting, ventilation, power distribution and supply as well as the fire detection and fire fighting aspects. Emergency generators, pump stations and uninterruptible power supply equipment will ensure permanent operation. Seven control substations, which can control their sections completely independently if necessary, will be linked up to the control center. Siemens will also be responsible for building the transformer rooms and the main control station and substations. The concept of a main traffic control center was chosen so that optimum use could be made of the available local specialists as they are rare in this thinly populated region.

In more than 20 tunnels, especially the longer ones, an automatic video detection system will be installed. It will be able to detect any possible obstacles and hindrances, vehicles that have stopped or are driving in the wrong direction as well as pedestrians, sudden vehicle speed changes and traffic jams. Foreign bodies on the road or smoke will also be detected and alarm systems will be activated.

Apart from all this, the system analyzes a wide variety of data such as the rise in the level of carbon monoxide, impairments to visibility or a change in the conditions outside the tunnels. It then automatically activates previously stored operating plans in order to respond appropriately to the given situation. The lighting in the tunnels can be adapted and the ventilation system can be controlled in order to ensure a safe and pleasant trip.

A communication system will enable safety and warning information for car drivers to be displayed on variable traffic signs. General announcements will be made over 825 loudspeakers.

The automation system will make sure that the ventilation, lighting and traffic-control systems function quickly and reliably in the event of a fire. 140 turbine blowers alone will be installed. A total of 353 fixed and 44 movable cameras will monitor the tunnels. Fire protection rooms, including dry fire extinguishers, will also be installed. Within the framework of the project, 275 kilometers of fiber-optic cable and more than 1500 kilometers of copper cable will be laid.

Further information on intelligent traffic control systems at: http://www.siemens.com/traffic  

This press release is supplemented by a photo which you can view on the Internet at:
http://www.siemens.com/mobility-pictures/IUS10076703

Caption:
Siemens is supplying an operations management and traffic control system to the value of around 57 million euros for a road project on the Turkish coast of the Black Sea. Siemens will install the entire technical infrastructure. This photo shows a tunnel which has already been equipped by Siemens as part of a previous project on the Black Sea coast in Turkey.