Project's Concept

wanring plates in the back of a dangerous goods truck, picture by: Deutscher Verkehrssicherheitsrat e. V., BonnDangerous goods are defined as the substances that can have harmful effects for human, environment and property. The classification of Dangerous Goods follows the "ADR, Agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Roads" of 30th September 1957, that has been included in the Annex E of the ECE rules 1172/98, which has been reported by the directive 200017/CE of the 29th January 2001. These risks exist due to the nature, the hazardous properties or the state of the above substances. Each day, products defined as dangerous goods, that are necessary for maintaining European's quality of life, are transported from one point to another within or throughout Europe. These transportations are too numerous to accurately record and are estimated in multi-millions per year. With this amount of movements, there is great potential for endangering human life and damaging the environment through accidents during transportation. For this reason many countries are currently providing regulations, so as to "handle" dangerous goods in terms of packing, loading, transport, unloading and unpacking.

dangerous goods truck in front view with warning plateStill, such rules are not always based upon rational policies nor solve the problem. For example, by law today in Greece dangerous goods vehicles are not allowed to pass through certain new tunnels, the alternative roads though pass through densely populated areas, thus resulting still in a high risk situation. One of the main reasons for not allowing such vehicles in general to go through specific infrastructure (i.e. tunnels, long bridges) is the lack of knowledge of the specific cargo of the vehicle (what it is, is it loaded or not, up to which level, etc.) and its properties in relation to the safety systems installed at the particular infrastructure. If such knowledge existed accurately and dynamically, the highest amount of dangerous goods vehicles could safely use the main roads and infrastructure elements.

dagnerous goods truck changing laneThe transportation of dangerous goods involves risks and has the potential to harm not only the truck's driver, but also the population being present at a certain distance along the pathway of the truck. The aforementioned population represents the off-road residents living along the pathway and the on-road drivers and passengers of the other vehicles moving near the truck, which carries the dangerous goods. The consequences of a road accident involving dangerous goods can be:

dangerous goods truck, picture by: Deutscher Verkehrssicherheitsrat e. V., BonnThe most important hazards during the transportation of dangerous goods are due to possible loss of containment. Release of flammable gases or vapors can end up to flash fire and VCE, while flammable liquids usually result in pool fires. Jet flame is another type of fire that can be provoked by immediate ignition of a flammable gas released during an accident. Also, the containment might undertake a BLEVE or other types of explosions. In conclusion, flammable liquids result in fires rather than explosions. Explosion hazards exist mostly in the cases where the transported substances are quite unstable. If the dangerous good is toxic, its release will form a toxic gas cloud. Toxic and corrosive substances can spread during a release just like liquids do. Accident history has shown that the risks related to the transportation of dangerous goods can be of the same magnitude as those caused by fixed installations.

truck cabin The management of risks involved in the transportation of dangerous goods has become a necessity. This process should include early recognition of potential problems (by on-board units and infrastructure based info; both in a dynamic manner), information about actual cargo and driver status, optimal routing and/or re-routing and monitoring and enforcement of dangerous goods movements within the transportation network.