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Thursday, 7 August 2014 - 13:47
Velsertunnel near Haarlem called "very unsafe"
A confidential inspection report in the hands of several North-Holland papers reveals that the Velsertunnel is very unsafe due to overdue maintenance, the NOS reports.
According to the report, the tunnel is dangerous because of negligence and long-term dilapidation. This creates a hazard, and could cause accidents.
The report also states that, part of a maintenance project under the North Sea channel, dozens of systems in the tunnel should have been replaced. This has not, evidently, happened.
Because these systems have been left as they are, they do not work reliably, or not at all, and are unsafe. Inspectors attempted in vain to open emergency exits, for example.
According to the transitional law, the situation on the A22 in the Velsertunnel is being tolerated. The Ministry of Infrastructure and Environment says in the papers that the tunnel is safe, and that the report is a mere snapshot.
According to fire safety expert Unso Suurenbroek, however, there appears to be no light at the end of the tunnel in the security of this tunnel. "You can almost say: what isn't wrong with it?" The report is 400 pages long, according to Suurenbroek, and is full of issues.
The expert states that the tunnel's ventilation system is faulty, which affects fire detection. Escape routes are in a bad state, and the tarmac is in such a state that it could easily cause accidents.
The Ministry wants to renovate the Velsertunnel in the coming years, the NOS writes. A main reason for this appears to be that trucks often get stuck in the tunnel. For this renovation, the Ministry will temporarily shut the tunnel in 2016.
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