Road Tunnel Management System in Iran (RTMS)

Existence of vast mountainous areas in Iran has caused construction of many tunnels for connection of the provinces and regions of the country. Maintenance of road tunnels in Iran has been performed in the past with traditional method and only based on observational and occasional inspections. The most important factors in determining the appropriate method of maintenance has been experiences of the operators and the life cycle and prioritization of tunnels based on their present situation in road network have not been paid attention.In order to achieve the goals established for the administration, operation and maintenance of a tunnel it is necessary to have one or more systems to collect the relevant information and make it available at all times. Such a system is termed a Road Tunnel Management System (RTMS).Nowadays, with regard to increasing age of tunnels, maintenance is not solely sufficient and establishment of a system for management and systematic maintenance of tunnels is necessary. Tunnel Management System is a valuable tool which helps the directors in performing optimum maintenance in tunnels, allocating appropriate financial support and alarms tunnel owners in critical conditions.In some countries, national regulations refer to tunnel operations. This requires the production and delivery of documents and reports to various authorities on the condition and maintenance undertaken on the tunnel structures and safety equipment. This may include all the maintenance work and inspections done by the operator. The inspection and maintenance records must be easily retrieved for examination by these authorities. Such systems may be manual, but it is more efficient if they are computer based.This paper has been prepared based on the results of a research programme to establish a system for road management in Iran. In this paper after defining the concept of Road Tunnel Management System (RTMS) and main goals of its establishment, the main stages in this regard have been defined and considered separately. The methods of gradation of tunnel components after inspections in conjunction with structural, electrical and mechanical systems gradation tables have been presented. Finally, the method of RTMS software operation has been explained.