Compartmentalisation doors in L9 tunnel, Barcelona

Safety is one of the most important aspects of travelling. Although the user may not be fully aware of it, there are dozens of systems and elements that work constantly to ensure that no problem arises that could be a danger to people. 

Public transport is a good example of this. Whether it is the beep before closing doors in the metro carriage, lifts with emergency call buttons in stations, robust seats in buses or escalators in train stations that can be stopped at the touch of a button in the event of any incident, urban transport services are, to a large extent, completely safe.

One of Manusa's emblematic projects in favour of passenger safety was developed in the Barcelona Metro, specifically on Line 9. Manusa manufactured and installed there three large tunnel sectoring doors for the stations of section II of this line.

The three doors of identical dimensions, approximately 4 metres wide by 3.7 metres high, withstand a pressure of over 2,000 Pa and have smoke-tight properties, with a maximum fire resistance of 120 minutes. Each of the doors is fitted with a pedestrian door with EI120 fire-rated properties to allow people to pass through in the event of a fire, at which point the tunnel sectoring doors will close, preventing the spread of smoke and fire through the tunnel.

The metallic structure that supports the doors is formed by telescopic adjustments that allow it to easily adapt to the irregularities of the work, respecting the demanding requirements of this type of installation.

At the control level, they interact with the track signalling and fire-fighting system of the stations and tunnels, achieving a SIL3 safety level, which allows them to guarantee the reliability of the Siemens UTO system (without driver and without on-board agent), which governs the driving of the convoys that circulate on this metro line.

The three tunnel sectoring doors were made to measure, under a turnkey project and in a record time of 3 months, during which their manufacture and installation was completed thanks to the extensive technological and engineering capacity of Manusa.