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Tunnels

TunnelsFor more than 20 years, the FHWA has researched and fomentednew technologies and best practices for the design andconstruction of road tunnels. The use of underground space fortransportation of goods and people has increased in the last 10years.

Tunnels represent the most expensive type of transportationstructures, where in addition to complicated design, the greatestchallenges may be encountered during construction. Since theearly 1930's until the latter part of the 1980's the technique oftunneling has not kept pace with the development of othertechnical fields and the literature on tunneling has also shownsigns of declining. Hence to be able to serve as a reliable andcredible information source to the field offices of FHWA, thestate highway agencies, municipalities as well as the generalpublic.

VISION: Preserve and Enhance United States Tunnel EngineeringExpertise

MISSION: To develop, promote and advance road tunnel engineering principles, technology, andmaintenance practices in the United States through a national team of road tunnel experts.

Tunnels - Structures - Bridges & Structures - Federal Highway Administr... http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/bridge/tunnel/

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GOALS:

Form a national team of road tunnel experts to serve as a reliable and credible information source tointernal (FHWA) and external (all other) customers.Develop a web page to include such items as:

A database of ongoing tunnel projects in the United States.1. List of tunnel-related publications and how they can be obtained2.

Enable and promote the continuous development of tunnel knowledgeAssist AASHTO T-20 Subcommittee on Tunnels to create tunnel specifications, and advance tunnelresearch.

National Tunnel Inspection Standard (NTIS)Supporting documents for the Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (SNPRM) on theNational Tunnel Inspection Standards (07/30/2013)

Draft Specifications for the National Tunnel Inventory (.pdf, 1.3 mb)Draft Tunnel Operations, Maintenance, Inpection and Evaluation (TOMIE) Manual (.pdf, 19 mb)NTIS Preliminary Inventory Data Form (.pdf, 0.5 mb)

Notice of Proposed Rule Making on National Tunnel Inspection Standard (07/22/2010)Advanced Notice of Proposed Rule Making on National Tunnel Inspection Standard (11/18/2008)

Tunnel ManagementHighway Tunnel InventoryTunnel Management System (.zip, 121 mb)FHWA and FTA Roll Out Nationwide Tunnel Management SystemA Light at the End of the TunnelTunnel Management

Virtual Team on Road Tunnels (VTRT)Ask the TVT Expert Previous Questions and Answers

Federal Highway Administration | 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE | Washington, DC 20590 |202-366-4000

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Tunnels - Structures - Bridges & Structures - Federal Highway Administr... http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/bridge/tunnel/

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