In 2018, the focus was put on tunnel ventilation and tunnel safety with special aspect on the restoration of tunnel constructions in current operation. 257 participants from 21 nations all over the world met in Messe Congress Graz (MCG) to take part in the conference “Tunnel Safety and Ventilation” from June 12 – 14, 2018. Special attention was put on the safety of long railway tunnels because of currently ongoing large-scale projects as the Koralmtunnel, Brenner Base tunnel, Gotthard Base- and Semmering Base tunnel. The event of fire in a tunnel is still a special danger for tunnel users – so the fire prevention as well as the incident management hasve been spotlighted in this symposium.

Following the technical lectures, a visit to the newly founded tunnel research center Res@ZaB at the Erzberg offered an opportunity for practical applications. The so-called “Zentrum am Berg” (Res@ZaB) is a research, development and test center for the construction and operation of subsurface constructions. In a decommissioned part of the Styrian Erzberg a worldwide unique research center with approx. 400 m long, parallel running motorway- and railway-tubes are being built. The tubes flow into an old, closed down tunnel, which will be extended to a length of about 1 km and can also be used for research and development purposes.

In the context of the technical program Univ.-Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Dr.mont. Robert Galler, the chair of Subsurface Engineering at the Montan University in Leoben represented his goals. In the course of a Hauly ride the area of the Erzberg was visited and explained. Afterwards, a fire test was carried out in one of the tunnel tubes in cooperation with the fire department.

Proceedings of Tunnel Safety and Ventilation - 9th International Conference (2018)