Fruitful discussions for the PIARC Tunnels Committee in Stavenger!
CETU attended the TC4.4 Technical Committee meeting on ‘Road Tunnel Operations’ held in Stavanger, Norway, from 30th September to 2nd October 2025.
The forty or so participants from around the world reviewed the progress made by the various working groups and task forces, in which CETU is highly active. In addition to its role as the Committee’s French-speaking secretariat, CETU co-leads WG2 on the impact of active modes of transport on road tunnel operation and leads WG4, which works on safety issues related to the use of new propulsion technologies in road tunnels. It is also an active member of the four other WGs and leads the DG QRAM task force: a quantitative risk assessment model for the transport of dangerous goods in road tunnels.
This meeting in Norway also gave TC4.4 members the opportunity to discuss possible avenues for collaboration with ITA COSUF (International Tunnelling Association Committee on Operational Safety of Underground Facilities) and to exchange views on its participation in two important upcoming events, namely the World Congress on Winter Maintenance, Resilience and Decarbonisation of Roads, in Chambéry in March 2026 and the PIARC International Tunnels Conference in Krakow in September-October 2026. CETU will of course be present at both events!
In addition to the official Committee meeting, our Norwegian hosts organised a mini-seminar which notably provided an opportunity to learn about the challenges of operating, maintaining and renovating tunnels in western Norway, as well as the activities of ‘VTS Norge’ with 5 control centres for 1,200 tunnels!
Finally, this meeting was rounded off with some highly interesting technical visits, including trips through several overland and undersea tunnels.
Many thanks to our Norwegian hosts!