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Tunnels, measured from portal to portal.

Inside a tunnel, the air, the visibility, the ventilation and the radio are all made by the operator. Gas, visibility and air flow sensors, fire detection, cameras and radio coverage report on a secure network to one record that the tunnel control room and the emergency services rely on.

Industry

Transport

Measurements

5

Sources cited

3

1. Transport · Road and rail tunnels

   Everything inside is made

   In a tunnel, the air people breathe is moved by fans, the light is switched on, and the radio is carried in by cable. When a vehicle stops or catches fire, the control room has minutes to see it, set the ventilation and get help inside. Every measurement in the tube is there for that moment.

2. What is measured

   Air, visibility, flow, fire and radio

   Gas sensors read carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide along the tube; opacity sensors read visibility; anemometers read air velocity and direction for the ventilation. Linear heat detection and cameras find fire and stopped vehicles, and the radiating cable’s supervision proves radio reaches every section.

   Instruments

   Gas sensors · Visibility · Anemometers · Heat detection · Cameras · Radio supervision

3. The base node

   A node in every niche

   An industrial gateway in each niche reads the sensors over their buses, and the node beside it signs every value, detects stopped vehicles and smoke on the camera feed and raises incidents at once. The control system keeps command of fans and signals.

4. Radio and links

   A radiating cable and fibre

   A radiating cable along the tube carries radio for the operator, the users and the emergency services where nothing from outside reaches. Fibre links every niche to the control room through a security gateway, and operator data can ride a private network radiated on the same cable.

   Links

   Leaky feeder · Fibre · Private LTE

5. How it works

   From smoke to the fire brigade

   A camera in the tube sees smoke near a stopped lorry. The niche node confirms it with rising carbon monoxide and falling visibility, raises the incident through the security gateway to the control room, and the control system sets the ventilation plan while the brigade receives the alert with images.

6. From order to operation · Order

   Scope the tube and the safety duties

   The scope reads the tunnel’s safety documentation, ventilation design, control system, radio arrangements and the emergency services’ plans. Nexus Observatory Inc. returns the point plan by section, the radio and network design, the security architecture and a price per section and per service.

   Plan a deployment

7. From order to operation · Survey

   Survey in closures

   Crews survey during night closures with the tunnel manager: equipment niches, cable routes, sensor positions set by the ventilation design, camera views without blind spots and radio coverage along the tube. They record power, fibre and access at each niche and both portals.

8. From order to operation · Permits

   The safety officer and the services

   Changes to tunnel equipment are reviewed by the tunnel’s safety officer and the administrative authority as the rules require. Radio coverage is agreed with the emergency services, and the network’s security follows the industrial control standard. Every review and approval is kept with the tunnel’s safety file.

9. From order to operation · Build

   Build for the tube

   Sensors, gateways, nodes, cameras and radio equipment are built for tunnel conditions, tested together on the bench with the control system’s interfaces and enrolled with their identities. Alarm levels come from the ventilation and safety plans, and every part is labelled by niche.

   Open the Station Builder

10. From order to operation · Install

    Install in night closures

    Crews install in night closures: sensors at their positions along the tube, cameras with clear views, the radiating cable on its brackets and nodes in the niches. Fibre is spliced to each niche, and the tube is handed back on time with every point recorded.

11. From order to operation · Commission

    Test with a fire drill

    Each device proves its identity behind the security gateway. Gas sensors are checked with reference gas, visibility and air flow against references, cameras for incident detection, and radio coverage walked along the tube. A full drill with the emergency services tests the chain.

12. From order to operation · Operate

    Control the tube on evidence

    The control room sees air quality, visibility and air flow along the tube, with incidents detected on camera and radio supervised. Ventilation follows the plan, alarms reach operators and emergency services at once, and every incident is kept on the record for the safety officer.

13. From order to operation · Maintain

    Maintain in planned closures

    Gas and visibility sensors are cleaned and checked in planned closures, cameras cleaned of soot, the radiating cable supervised and tested, and the security of the network reviewed. Every change is recorded, so the tunnel’s safety record stays complete. Spares are held on site.

    Book field services

14. Data products

    For control rooms and responders

    Tunnel control rooms receive air quality, visibility and flow along the tube; operators and emergency services receive incidents with images and radio supervision; safety officers and authorities receive drill and incident records. Each product carries its location by niche and section.

    See the data products

15. Evidence

    A safety record for every closure

    Every reading, incident, drill and maintenance closure is signed and kept. Equipment and procedures follow the European tunnel safety rules and the international tunnel fire standard, the network follows the industrial control security standard, so the safety officer and the authority can verify the tube is fit to open.

    Drawn against

    Directive 2004/54/EC · NFPA 502 · IEC 62443

16. What you get

    Operational-technology assurance for observing sites

    Identity, attestation, segmentation and monitoring for instruments and edge nodes, with evidence for audits. Stated as services, never as a security guarantee. Delivered as managed service and professional services, for operators of critical sites, agencies. Scale: Fleets of sites. Service levels are written as numbers you can measure on your own dashboard.

    Talk to sales

17. Next step

    Plan road and rail tunnels with us

    Tell us the site, the measurements and the rules it answers to. We reply with a survey proposal, a design and a scope for road and rail tunnels. An engineer replies with a survey proposal and a scope, and the plan grows from one site to the network you need, at your pace.

    Plan a deploymentOpen the Station BuilderOpen the Studio

01The place and its hazards

Where it runs, and what can go wrong.

Operating contextRoad and rail tunnels are operated from a control room that runs ventilation, lighting, signals, fire systems and communications. Safety rules for tunnels set duties for ventilation, detection, emergency exits and radio for users and emergency services. A fire or a stalled vehicle in a tube is the case every system is designed for.

Hazards

• Fire and smoke in the tube
• Carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide from traffic
• Loss of visibility from emissions or smoke
• Loss of radio for users and emergency services
• Cyber attack on the tunnel control system

02What must be measured

What, where, how often, and under which rules.

Each measurement names where it is taken, how often, and the public standard or regulation behind it. Numbers in the sources column open the cited source below.

03The observation stack

From one base unit to a network.

The same blocks at every scale: instruments and a base node, a site with its radio, a fleet run as one, and a network federated on the open protocol.

1. 01

   Base unit

   A tube section: gas, visibility and air flow sensors on an industrial gateway with cameras, read by a node in an equipment niche.

   Build a station →
2. 02

   Site

   A tunnel: every section, both portals, the radiating cable and fibre to the control room behind a security gateway.

   Plan a site →
3. 03

   Fleet

   Every tunnel of an operator run from one control platform, with one record.

   Managed offers →
4. 04

   Network

   Tunnel operators, road and rail authorities and emergency services exchange incidents and records through open standards.

   The open protocol →

• 01Gas detector (industrial)
• 02Air quality monitor
• 03Flow meter
• 04Fixed camera
• 05OT gateway (OPC UA, Modbus)
• 06Edge node (Wedge)
• 07Zero-trust gateway
• 08Fibre terminal

Radio and links

Leaky feeder

A radiating cable along the tube carries the operator’s, the users’ and the emergency services’ radio where no signal from outside reaches.

Radio and links

Fibre

Fibre along the tube links every equipment niche to the control room.

Radio and links

Private LTE

Operator data and voice can ride a private network radiated along the tube on the same cable.

Edge computeEach niche’s node checks gas, visibility and air flow against the ventilation plan, detects stopped vehicles and smoke on the camera feed and raises incidents to the control room at once; the control system keeps command of the fans.

PowerEquipment runs on the tunnel’s protected supplies with batteries, so detection and radio keep working when the main supply fails.

04How it works

From the instrument to the product.

One observation’s path, tier by tier, with the interface on every link and a bill of materials below; then how the one node grows to a site, a fleet and federated networks.

05From order to operation

Every step, from the first call to a running site.

The same crew and the same record carry the work from scope to maintenance.

1. 01 Order

   Scope the tube and the safety duties

   The scope reads the tunnel’s safety documentation, ventilation design, control system, radio arrangements and the emergency services’ plans. Nexus Observatory Inc. returns the point plan by section, the radio and network design, the security architecture and a price per section and per service. 12

2. 02 Survey

   Survey in closures

   Crews survey during night closures with the tunnel manager: equipment niches, cable routes, sensor positions set by the ventilation design, camera views without blind spots and radio coverage along the tube. They record power, fibre and access at each niche and both portals.

3. 03 Permits

   The safety officer and the services

   Changes to tunnel equipment are reviewed by the tunnel’s safety officer and the administrative authority as the rules require. Radio coverage is agreed with the emergency services, and the network’s security follows the industrial control standard. Every review and approval is kept with the tunnel’s safety file. 3

4. 04 Build

   Build for the tube

   Sensors, gateways, nodes, cameras and radio equipment are built for tunnel conditions, tested together on the bench with the control system’s interfaces and enrolled with their identities. Alarm levels come from the ventilation and safety plans, and every part is labelled by niche.

5. 05 Install

   Install in night closures

   Crews install in night closures: sensors at their positions along the tube, cameras with clear views, the radiating cable on its brackets and nodes in the niches. Fibre is spliced to each niche, and the tube is handed back on time with every point recorded.

6. 06 Commission

   Test with a fire drill

   Each device proves its identity behind the security gateway. Gas sensors are checked with reference gas, visibility and air flow against references, cameras for incident detection, and radio coverage walked along the tube. A full drill with the emergency services tests the chain. 1

7. 07 Operate

   Control the tube on evidence

   The control room sees air quality, visibility and air flow along the tube, with incidents detected on camera and radio supervised. Ventilation follows the plan, alarms reach operators and emergency services at once, and every incident is kept on the record for the safety officer. 2

8. 08 Maintain

   Maintain in planned closures

   Gas and visibility sensors are cleaned and checked in planned closures, cameras cleaned of soot, the radiating cable supervised and tested, and the security of the network reviewed. Every change is recorded, so the tunnel’s safety record stays complete. Spares are held on site.

06Data products and integration

What it delivers, to whom, and into which systems.

Data products

• Air quality and visibility along the tubeTunnel control rooms
• Incident detection with imagesOperators and emergency services
• Radio coverage supervisionOperators and emergency services
• Safety records and drillsSafety officers and authorities

Integration

• Tunnel control systemReadings are exchanged over OPC UA or Modbus; ventilation control stays with the control system.
• Emergency servicesIncidents are passed with location and images in the Common Alerting Protocol or the services’ own format.
• Network securityEvery connection crosses a security gateway in line with IEC 62443 zones and conduits.

Exchanged through OPC UA, IEC 62443, Common Alerting Protocol.

07Questions buyers ask

Before you scope it.

Will this take over our ventilation?

No. The control system keeps command; we measure, detect and alarm.

Do emergency services get radio in the tube?

Yes. The radiating cable carries their radio, supervised continuously.

Is the network safe from attack?

It is separated from the internet by a security gateway and built to the industrial control security standard.

When is work done?

In night closures planned with the tunnel manager.

08Resources

The sources behind this page.

Public standards, regulations and guidance, cited where they apply. Each applies only where its jurisdiction or scope does.

1. 1Directive 2004/54/EC on minimum safety requirements for tunnels in the Trans-European Road NetworkEuropean Union · 2004
2. 2NFPA 502: Standard for Road Tunnels, Bridges, and Other Limited Access HighwaysNational Fire Protection Association
3. 3IEC 62443: Security for industrial automation and control systemsInternational Electrotechnical Commission

09Related

Use cases and solutions.

10Transport: specialized fields

Other fields of this industry.

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