Conference Agenda
Highly interesting, high-quality presentations on many different topics will be presented in parallel sessions, providing the basis for lively discussions among the experts in attendance. Below you will find an overview and details of the sessions of our International Conference.
As usual, all presentations will be simultaneously translated into English and German!
Venue: Messecongress Graz (Messeplatz 1, 8010 Graz)
Please note that all times are shown in the time zone of the conference. The current conference time is: 14th Feb 2026, 08:08:44pm CET
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FINAL PROGRAM |
| Date: Monday, 20/Apr/2026 | |
| 6:00pm - 9:00pm |
Get-together [optional] |
| Date: Tuesday, 21/Apr/2026 | ||
| 8:00am - 9:00am |
Registration |
|
| 9:00am - 9:15am |
Opening Session Location: Hall Styria |
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| 9:15am - 10:15am |
Keynote Speakers Location: Hall Styria Sustainability of tunnel operation: new approaches ASFINAG Baumanagement GmbH, Austria 9:35am - 9:55am The Koralmtunnel as a real-world laboratory: Research work and findings during the construction of the Koralmtunnel 1: Graz University of Technology, Institute of Thermodynamics and Sustainable Propulsion Systems, Austria; 2: ÖBB Infrastruktur AG, Austria 9:55am - 10:15am ASFINAG in case of a blackout – overview and measures ASFINAG SG, Austria |
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| 10:15am - 10:45am |
Coffee Break |
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| 10:45am - 12:00pm |
Session S1 Location: Hall Styria Safe tunnels for smart vehicles: challenges and opportunities of automated driving in road tunnels 1: ILF Consulting Engineers Austria GmbH, Austria; 2: BUNG Ingenieure AG, Germany; 3: Austrian Institute of Technology, Austria 11:10am - 11:35am Synchronizing bias influence to the walking speed in a smoke filled tunnel experiment 1: Hiroshima University, Japan; 2: Liaodong University, China; 3: Shinshu University, Japan 11:35am - 12:00pm Impact of group effects on the reaction and escape behaviour of users in road tunnels - results of realistic large group experiments 1: STUVA e.V., Cologne, Germany; 2: CSS – Centre for Security and Society, Freiburg, Germany; 3: Technical University of Leoben, Leoben, Austria; 4: Federal Highway and Transport Research Institute, Bergisch Gladbach , Germany |
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| 12:00pm - 1:30pm |
Lunch |
|
| 1:30pm - 2:45pm |
Session S2 Location: Hall Styria Digital Twins for road tunnels – expectations meet reality 1: Ruhr University Bochum, Institute for Tunnelling, Germany; 2: Ruhr University Bochum, Chair for computing in construction, Germany; 3: Federal Highway Research Institute, Germany; 4: BUNG-Group, Germany 1:55pm - 2:20pm R&D project Tunnelsensorfusion ASFINAG (Alpenstraßen GmbH), Austria 2:20pm - 2:45pm Development of a systematic approach for evaluation of the condition of the tunnel equipment 1: Bundesanstalt für Straßen- und Verkehrswesen, Germany; 2: ASFINAG Maut Service GmbH, Austria; 3: ILF Consulting Engineers Austria GmbH, Austria; 4: Die Autobahn GmbH des Bundes, Germany |
Session G2 Location: Hall Graz Methodology for the performance enhancement of longitudinal ventilation systems during transient stage of a fire Soler&Palau, Spain 1:55pm - 2:20pm Performance improvement of a hybrid ventilation system via predictive control 1: DISMI - University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy; 2: Mimesis s.r.l., Italy; 3: EN&TECH - University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy; 4: DIEF - University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy; 5: TMB-GEIE, Courmayeur (AO), Italy and Chamonix, France 2:20pm - 2:45pm Enhancements of Tunnel Ventilation System for Road Tunnels adopting Aerodynamic Control & Monitoring Strategies 1: AECOM (Asia) Company Limited, Hong Kong; 2: BYME Engineering (Hong Kong) Limited, Hong Kong |
| 2:45pm - 3:15pm |
Coffee Break |
|
| 3:15pm - 4:30pm |
Session S3 Location: Hall Styria Ventilation Control Optimisation for Short Longitudinally Ventilated Road Tunnels in Case of Temporary Bidirectional Traffic Operation ILF Consulting Engineers Austria GmbH, Austria 3:40pm - 4:05pm External smoke movement and its impact on station design – Guidance for ventilation layout WSP UK Ltd, United Kingdom 4:05pm - 4:30pm Safety challenges of highway lids in the US 1: Tunnel Safety & Ventilation Consultant, United States of Amerika; 2: HNTB Corporation, United States of Amerika |
Session G3 Location: Hall Graz The best that FEDRO has provided us with in recent years” Experience from 50 operating concepts for Swiss road tunnels 1: ILF Beratende Ingenieure AG, Switzerland; 2: WSP Ingenieure AG, Switzerland 3:40pm - 4:05pm Comparison of Conventional Jet Fans and Fans With Shaped Silencers in an Italian Road Tunnel Based on In-Situ Measurements 1: Mosen Ltd, United Kingdom; 2: Risk Design Engineering, Italy; 3: ANAS SpA, Italy; 4: De Cardenas Fans & Service SRL, Italy 4:05pm - 4:30pm Optimization of the main fans and associated drives for the E4 Stockholm Bypass 1: HBI Haerter, Switzerland; 2: Trafikverket, Sweden; 3: Zitron, Netherlands |
| 4:30pm - 4:40pm |
Informative presentation about the Technical Visit Location: Hall Styria |
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| 7:30pm | Conference Dinner [optional] |
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| Date: Wednesday, 22/Apr/2026 | ||
| 8:45am - 10:00am |
Session S4 Location: Hall Styria Smart Tunnel in Industry 5.0: Improving road tunnel resilience by dynamic risk analysis 1: Prometeoengineering.it S.r.l., Italy; 2: La Sapienza - University of Rome, Italy 9:10am - 9:35am Acceptance criteria for design of longitudinal ventilation systems in road tunnels: theoretical framework Sweco Belgium, Belgium 9:35am - 10:00am State of the Art and Lines of Development for the Artu Risk Analysis Software Cantene, Italy |
Session G4 Location: Hall Graz Heat Transmission Between Ground and Tunnel Air for Different Configurations and Uses Sener Mobility SA, Spain 9:10am - 9:35am Enhancement of the Dispersion of Pollutants Near a Tunnel Ending in a Street Canyon, a CFD Case Study 1: Centre d'étude des tunnels, France; 2: AtmoSud, France 9:35am - 10:00am Smoke recirculation at Road-Tunnel Portals Amberg Engineering, Switzerland |
| 10:00am - 10:30am |
Coffee Break |
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| 10:30am - 11:45am |
Session S5 Location: Hall Styria Safety challenges of highway lids in the US HNTB corp., United States of America 10:55am - 11:20am Implementation of low-tech and lean-tech concepts in road tunnels for a better sustainability Egis, France 11:20am - 11:45am Improving Energy Efficiency in Road Tunnels 1: crypta.sec conceptum GmbH, Austria; 2: Bundesanstalt für Straßen- und Verkehrswesen |
Session G5 Location: Hall Graz On smoke detection systems in road tunnels - a quantitative comparison 1: HBI Haerter, Switzerland; 2: AFRY Schweiz AG, Switzerland; 3: buntech GmbH, Switzerland; 4: Federal Roads Administration FEDRO, Switzerland 10:55am - 11:20am Ventilation System Upgrade for Huguenot Tunnel in South Africa 1: The South African National Roads Agency SOC Ltd, South Africa; 2: SMEC South Africa, South Africa 11:20am - 11:45am Web-SCADA: A Web-based Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition Platform for Road Tunnel Safety in Japan 1: Sohatsu Systems Laboratory Inc., Japan; 2: Kobe University, Kobe, Japan; 3: University of Dundee, Dundee, Scotland, United Kingdom |
| 11:45am - 1:15pm |
Lunch |
|
| 1:15pm - 2:30pm |
Session S6 Location: Hall Styria Towards Accurate Tunnel Fire Simulations: Grid Sensitivity and Les Model Comparison in Fire Dynamics Simulator Fire Rescue Victoria, Australia 1:40pm - 2:05pm On the Flow Resistance of Tunnel Fires – Validation by Full-Scale Fire Tests 1: Riess Ingenieur-GmbH, Switzerland; 2: OST Ostschweizer Fachhochschule, Switzerland 2:05pm - 2:30pm tbd Stacey Agnew, Australia |
Session G6 Location: Hall Graz Experimental Investigation of Thermal Runaway in Lithium-Ion Batteries: Implications for Tunnel Safety and Structural Integrity 1: Energy Center, Politecnico di Torino, Via Paolo Borsellino 38/16, 10138, Turin, Italy.; 2: Systemair GmbH, Germany/Systemair Srl, Italy.; 3: Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Wybrzeże Wyspiańskiego 27, 50-370 Wrocław, Poland.; 4: Graz University of Technology, Institute of Thermodynamics and Sustainable Propulsion Systems, Austria. 1:40pm - 2:05pm Consequences from large BEV fires in tunnels - results of full-scale testing 1: Graz University of Technology, Austria; 2: ILF Consulting Engineers Austria GMbH, Austria; 3: HBI Haerter AG, Switzerland; 4: WSP, Switzerland; 5: University ofLeoben, Austria; 6: Studiengesellschaft für unterirdische Verkehrsanlagen e.V., Germany 2:05pm - 2:30pm Modeling Airborne brake wear particle transport in Subway Systems: a line-scale framework” Metro de Madrid, Spain |
| 2:30pm - 3:00pm |
Coffee Break |
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| 3:00pm - 4:15pm |
Session S7 Location: Hall Styria Influence of the Tunnel Cross-Section on Tunnel Aerodynamics Gruner GmbH, Austria 3:25pm - 3:50pm Air Speeds Near Services on Tunnel Walls 1: WSP UK Ltd, United Kingdom; 2: University of Birmingham, United Kingdom; 3: HS2 Ltd, United Kingdom 3:50pm - 4:15pm Train-induced aerodynamic loads acting on installations of Granitztal Tunnel REVOTEC, Austria |
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| 4:15pm - 4:25pm |
Closing Remarks Location: Hall Styria |
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| Date: Thursday, 23/Apr/2026 | |
| 8:15am - 3:00pm |
Technical Visit [optional] |