SFPE Houston April 2016 Meeting
Please join us for dinner and a technical program
Tuesday, April 12, 2016
6:00 PM Social, 6:30 PM Meal and Meeting
Location:
Victaulic Bermad Technologies
9424 West Little York Road. Houston, TX 77040
Presentation:
The Retrofit of a Fixed Fire Suppression System for the Eisenhower Johnson Memorial Tunnel (EJMT)
The EJMT is a dual-bore, four-lane vehicular tunnel approximately 50 miles (80 km) west of Denver, Colorado. The EJMT tunnels allow Interstate 70 to pass under the Continental Divide in the Rocky Mountains. With an elevation of 11,158 ft (3,401 m) above sea level, it is one of the highest vehicular tunnels in the world. Each tunnel is almost 9,000’ long. The Eisenhower bore was completed in 1973 at the cost of $108 million (equivalent to $576 million in 2016). It took six more years to complete the Johnson bore and at the time the project set the record for the most expensive federally aided project.
On average, more than 30,000 vehicles pass through the EJMT each day, and historically, the tunnels have experienced two to three fires a year since their opening. More than 40 years after opening, the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) rounded up $20 million to provide a fixed fire suppression system (FFSS). A severe fire in the tunnel could be a danger to motorist with potential for long term closures costing Colorado billions of dollars and impacting tourism and commerce.
Guest Speaker:
John Hulett
John is a Senior Project Manager with Western States Fire Protection Co. who specializes in large and complex projects. John is a principal on the NFSA Engineering and Standards Committee, Officer with the Colorado Fire Protection Association, Principal on NFPA-3 Commissioning, NFPA-4 Integrated Testing, Alternate on NFPA-11, 11A, 16 Foam, NFPA-14 Standpipes, and NFPA 120, 122 Mining.
