March 22, 2005: With the goal of providing centralized monitoring in the long Swiss highway tunnels and along the N5 federal highway, 204 emergency call systems, "Made in Mülheim" by ms Neumann Elektronik GmbH (ms Neumann Electronics), were installed along more than 200 kilometers of highway.
Swiss Perfectionism and Precision from Mülheim
The call for increased safety in road traffic, particularly in tunnels, became much more adamant following the disastrous traffic accidents in tunnels of recent times. This was in part the reason for the installation of emergency call systems that span across Swiss canton borders. Based on its technologically convincing concept, this project was awarded to ms Neumann Elektronik.
The Solution
At present, large sections of the Swiss autobahn and tunnel networks, such as the 17km-long Gotthard tunnel and the Seelisberg tunnel as well as the N5 federal highway, are being equipped with emergency call systems from Mülheim. Here, a total of 204 emergency phones - built into alarm boxes that each additionally contains 2 monitored fire extinguishers - have been installed at approximately 85 m intervals.
The emergency call stations are connected via a special communication management system to modern call centers that receive the emergency calls and, where required, can forward these to the appropriate services. Via the MDK system, both the traffic control center and emergency services are notified as soon as a fire extinguisher is taken from its bracket, and at the same time, the tunnel lighting is activated and surveillance cameras are switched on. For safety and security reasons, a visual (full-color) alarm also appears on the graphic user interface of the management system to display the location of the fire extinguisher that has been activated.
Centralized Tunnel Monitoring
For monitoring purposes, ms Neumann Elektronik integrated the individual tunnel and highway sections into a system that spans across canton boarders; the information of the individual highway maintenance works and patrol stations along the sections is routed into one supervisory system. This allows monitoring and evaluation of the sections from the various, non-local control centers, which ensures that all sections can be centrally monitored (in emergency situations), and that emergency services can be more efficiently coordinated. In addition to increased safety (fall-back level) - i.e., should a failure occur in one of the control centers, another center can take over its duties - the system has the advantage that each individual center no longer has to be manned around the clock.
Cooperating Partners
To implement this project, products from both ms Neumann Elektronik, and systems from third-party suppliers, are being integrated into the overall system. Its many years of successful cooperation with various engineering offices will serve ms Neumann Elektronik well in bringing this project, contracted at a total of more than 1 million Swiss Francs, to completion.
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