France And Italy Manage World's 9th Longest Tunnel On One System

Italian company TECNOSITAF have completely revolutionized the preventive maintenance and on-demand work order processing of the cross-border Frejus Tunnel, a complex set of technological infrastructures and systems where efficiency is a key requirement in terms of safety, energy, and business continuity. The company has progressed from a reactive mode of management to an integrated managed process for all of the tunnel systems using the ARCHIBUS Web Central platform with On Demand Work and Preventive Maintenance applications.

THE FREJUS TUNNEL: RISK MANAGEMENT OF COMPLEX OPERATIONS AND HIGH STAKES SAFETY MEASURES

Few operations are more complex to run and maintain than a road tunnel-keeping ventilation, lighting, traffic control, fire detection and suppression, and emergency response systems in good repair and up to date. The correct monitoring of plants and process management of maintenance in this context, becomes critical to ensure the business continuity of the tunnel and the safety of people. TECNOSITAF does all this and more to maintain the Frejus Tunnel, one of the main trans-Alpine links between France and Italy. Built in 1980, the Frejus Tunnel is the ninth longest road tunnel in the world. Approximately 4 million people live on either side of the tunnel in Savoie, France and in the Province of Turin and city of Milan, Italy. More than 1.7 million vehicles used the tunnel in 2015.

TECNOSITAF have taken major steps to enhance safety measures in recent years, including installing a new rescue tunnel. With new top-of-the-line tunnel systems, they decided they needed a similarly innovative approach to tunnel maintenance. In 2014, they began the process of establishing fully integrated asset management and workflow systems, streamlining the work order process and centralizing tunnel systems maintenance records.

TOO MANY SYSTEMS; IMPLEMENTING AN INTEGRATED APPROACH

In addition to systems for ventilation and multiple forms of signage and lighting, TECNOSITAF also track the data output from and the maintenance of 241 video cameras, complex fire detection and suppression systems, and thermal gates at each entrance.

Working with REnovation, Srl, an ARCHIBUS Business Partner, they began to integrate and update their maintenance systems. The first step in the process was to gather relevant data about the tunnel assets and its systems. This involved updating and creating new CAD drawings and recording asset information for over 4,300 pieces of equipment over 13 kilometers of tunnel, 5 buildings, and 26,000 square meters of platform space.

By the fall of 2014, TECNOSITAF began directing 60 staff members, over 5 work teams managing 5 service lines all through one platform. Working with ARCHIBUS, they were able to not only make the day to day running of the tunnel more efficient, but also to integrate and simplify the work order and maintenance processes, generating work orders with the click of a button.

Having streamlined the workflow process, TECNOSITAF turned their attention to asset management,   integrating asset history with the work order process, so that the craft person assigned to a ticket, and armed with a mobile device, has access to the asset’s maintenance history, better equipping him to do his job effectively and efficiently.

TUNNEL TO TOMORROW

Now, instead of just tracking whether systems are functioning properly and efficiently repairing them when they break, TECNOSITAF have started to proactively maintain the systems so that nothing will break. There is a greater level of data collection and tracking, taking full advantage of the ARCHIBUS integrated database approach to facilities management. They are managing the lifecycles of their assets and improving the maintenance strategy in the tunnel. They have rationalized the work processes and monitored the status of equipment and activities to reduce the risk of closure and ensure the safety of the people.