Advances in Illumination of Lengthy Road Tunnels by Means of Innovative Vaulting and Control of Flicker Perturbations

Traditional approaches in tunnel lighting have been directed towards the installation of appropriate luminaires in the intermediate and transitional sections with the simple objective of diminishing the effect of delayed visual accommodation during daylight hours. Such efforts run in parallel with the target of keeping the electrical use at the lowest level. Nevertheless, inadequate attention has been conceded to the interior areas, whose noticeable longitude in several instances and subsequently the duration of occupancy of the users, can produce discomfort in the majority of the tunnel or underground passageway. It is in this region, where the flicker effect presents a more remarkable impact. Although such effect is in fact uncomfortable, the strategies to eliminate it efficiently have not been developed in depth and the result is still deserving. The reasons for this neglect as well as some particularities and solutions are exposed and discussed in the present article. Specifically, it is demonstrated that the use of sunlight can be an adequate initiative to design and retrofit tunnels capable of hampering or totally avoiding the unwanted effect. The innovative tunnel geometry explained in this manuscript is not cylindrical and also it is not based in revolution forms. Thus, it prevents the appearance of such unnerving visual effects which also endanger security. We are in the position to prove how the vector field generated by the normal to the points of the novel surface displayed, remains non-parallel, ensuring appropriate diffusivity. In the same manner, the notion of tunnel is extended from a linear system to a veritable network of galleries which can traverse in space bi or even three-dimensionally. Accordingly, we will offer diverse instances of junctions and splices which further enhance the capabilities and improvements of this disruptive technology.