Photometric Characterisation of the Concrete Pavement in the Sinard Tunnel Favouring a Sustainable Concrete Pavement

The Sinard tunnel (length 980 metres), located South of Grenoble, is one of the few in France to have a concrete pavement. Once the tunnel was opened to traffic, in 2007, a campaign of photometric measurements was initiated to follow the evolution of photometric characteristics of the concrete pavement with time and traffic. The aim is to prove the relevance of concrete pavements in tunnels, as regards potential energy savings and safety of users. This measurement campaign, which will end in 2010, relies on non-destructive testing and uses a transportable measurement device called COLUROUTE. Let us note that the concrete pavement of the SINARD tunnel was built using a slipform paver and that the concrete road surface was swept to provide microroughness, required for tire grip. The first evaluations, that need to be confirmed, show that the lighting electric power could be reduced by almost 50 %. This first encouraging result emphasises the importance for the project owner to properly take into account the choice of pavement characteristics regarding its photometry when defining tunnel specifications.