Beveren Tunnel is future-proof thanks to digital twin

Tight and smart collaboration

“There are 15 million vehicles passing through the Beveren Tunnel every year,” says Michiel Xenakis, who, as an Automation Engineer at Equans, was responsible for central technical control in this renovation project. “The tunnel is thus one of the arteries of the Port of Antwerp, but after almost 40 years of service it was in need of a thorough makeover in terms of safety and sustainability.”

“We built a park with 750 solar panels that cover about half of the tunnel’s energy supply. The tunnel also got a water treatment plant capable of treating about 3.5 million litres of water per day. For safety, new escape doors and corridors were installed and the lighting, ventilation and fire alarm systems were also completely renewed.”

Equans worked closely with Besix Unitec for the electromechanical control of the tunnel. “We were responsible for the techniques associated with the two tunnel shafts,” says Maarten Duym of Besix Unitec. “We installed the pump stations, the fans and the fire extinguishing system, among others. All these techniques interface with the PLCs that Equans uses to centrally control the tunnel.”

“Like Equans, we have chosen Siemens PLCs in our technologies,” adds Maarten. “In theory, we could have taken others, but it is obviously more convenient for communication between our PLCs that we worked with the same partner. Moreover, Michiel and I had the same central contact at Siemens, in the person of Brecht Vandendoorent. That also simplified a lot in a project where there was some time pressure.”

Safe automatic control

So, as Customer Solution Architect at Siemens, Brecht was in regular contact with both Equans and Besix Unitec during the project. “At the start, we first laid down the technical architecture together,” Brecht explains. “After that, we had a monthly coordination meeting with Besix and one with Equans every two months to follow up on the status and make adjustments if necessary. For example, Besix has still switched to more redundant remote I/O islands to be compatible with the redundant PLCs Equans was using.”

“A redundant PLC architecture is crucial to ensure maximum availability,” Michiel explains. “If a PLC fails, it has no direct impact on the tunnel control and you don’t have to close the tunnel. If a fire occurs, for example, ventilation and signalling will continue to work. This is obviously crucial for the safety of tunnel users.”

“An important aspect of the renovation is that all techniques are now controlled automatically,” Michiel continues. “Before the renovation, every incident required someone in the control centre to perform a manual operation. Now this is no longer the case and action is taken automatically immediately via the central PLC control. Again, that is more efficient and safer.”

Quickly reopened thanks to digital twin

The automatic control of the Beveren Tunnel is unique in Belgium. But the most imaginative innovation was the use of a digital twin. “Thanks to that virtual copy of the tunnel, we were able to test the software in advance,” Michiel explains. “This allowed us to reduce the margin of error and reopen the tunnel to road traffic sooner. For that, we used PLCSIM Advanced, a Siemens system that lets you virtually simulate your SIMATIC S7 controllers with precision.”

“Building a digital twin like this does take some time,” Brecht explains. “You start from a 3D model and make it dynamic in a convenient graphical interface. You add the distribution boxes and can then control lighting, for example, from there. Anyone writing software can therefore test something remotely more easily, without having to go to the tunnel each time or - even worse - close it. In the latter scenario, you also often cannot predict when the tunnel can then reopen.”

“In the next phase, that digital twin is also useful for training your staff,” Michiel adds. “Before, you were given scripts and had to learn on the job as an operator, with all the risks involved. In this project, the operators were able to learn to work with the new controls even before the tunnel reopened.”

Example for other tunnels

Clearly, the many new technologies make the Beveren Tunnel completely future-proof. “And thanks to the open communication protocols, something can always be changed or added to the tunnel controller without having to change much in the software,” Michiel explains. “This is significant: in the event of a major tunnel incident, the operator must intervene to make it safer,” Brecht adds.

“This complete renovation is an example for future projects,” Michiel believes. “If it were up to me, from now on we will always work with a digital twin. By the way, an added bonus in terms of durability is that Siemens hardware has a long lifespan. And if you want to replace a PLC with a newer model after, say, 10 years, you can easily do that without having to modify anything else.”