Examination of Various Highway Tunnels in Terms of Tunnel Features and Driver Behaviors

Abstract

Many newly built tunnels contain many technological infrastructures in terms of management and tunnel safety to provide high-standard services. Tunnel management and tunnel safety are expected to be at a high level since tunnels, especially built in recent years, are required to meet many expectations such as having low operating costs, being economical for drivers, being safe, and having comprehensive control and management systems. Within the scope of this study, a total of 17 tunnels with different characteristic features between Gümüşhane and Trabzon provinces that are located in the Eastern Black Sea Region, where the number of tunnels is quite high, and including mostly new tunnels, were examined in detail and separately in terms of safety and operational features for the traffic directionally of tunnels and driver behaviors in tunnels. Thus, it was aimed to reveal the existing safety and operational problems in tunnels and the effects of existing problems in tunnels on driver behaviors, and attention was drawn to considerations for the prevention of accidents. According to the results obtained, it was observed that Turkey made significant progress not only regarding the construction of tunnels but also regarding the use and application of technological infrastructures that provide their safety and operation. Based on the examinations, it was determined that new technological systems facilitated the operation of newly built tunnels and increased their safety. However, there were still different problems in terms of safety and driver behaviors in some tunnels. Within the scope of the study, these problems were examined in detail, and suggestions were made for the solution of the problems. © 2020, TUBITAK. All rights reserved.