Avenue2 / Koning Willem-Alexander Tunnel
Avenue2 optimizes the monitoring of the Koning Willem-Alexander Tunnel with Citect SCADA
Avenue2, a consortium of Ballast Nedam and Strukton, delivered the King Willem-Alexander Tunnel in Maastricht, Europe's first double-deck tunnel, carrying about 45,000 vehicles every day. The project had to meet the new Dutch national tunnel standard, guarantee high availability with heavy fines for closures, provide an ergonomic HMI with sub-second response times and integrate emergency services. AVEVA was chosen as the end-to-end partner, with Citect SCADA and Citect Historian at the heart of the control system, running redundantly with Quantum PLCs in hot standby. More than 50 technical subsystems are monitored from two command rooms. The results are remarkable: compliance with the 10,000 requirements of the national standard, on-time and on-budget delivery, and 80% of rush-hour traffic jams now diverted, cutting the detour from more than 30 minutes to just 5 minutes.
FAQ
How does AVEVA Plant SCADA manage Europe's first double-deck tunnel?
The King Willem-Alexander Tunnel in Maastricht, Europe's first double-deck tunnel, carries 45,000 vehicles a day. AVEVA Plant SCADA (formerly Citect SCADA), combined with Citect Historian and hot-standby redundant Quantum PLCs, supervises more than 50 technical subsystems from two control rooms. The platform delivers the high availability required by the authorities, meets the 10,000 requirements of the Dutch national tunnel standard and offers an ergonomic HMI with sub-second response times.
Why is high availability critical for monitoring a road tunnel?
Any closure of the Koning Willem-Alexander Tunnel results in heavy fines and a major economic impact for the Maastricht region. AVEVA Plant SCADA implements a redundant architecture with Quantum PLCs in hot standby, ensuring continuity of service even if a component fails. This high availability, required by the national tunnel standard, has become a standard for critical transport infrastructure, where every minute of downtime has disproportionate consequences for urban mobility and the local economy.
How can the 10,000 requirements of the Dutch national tunnel standard be met?
The Dutch national tunnel standard covers every aspect (safety, efficiency, environment, ergonomics) with more than 10,000 specific requirements. Thanks to its object library, configurable escalation workflows and integration with emergency services, AVEVA Plant SCADA enabled Avenue2 (Ballast Nedam, Strukton) to meet all of these requirements. Full compliance was validated and the project was delivered on time and on budget, demonstrating the platform's maturity for public transport infrastructure.
What concrete benefits does the tunnel bring to mobility in Maastricht?
80% of rush-hour traffic jams are now diverted thanks to the Koning Willem-Alexander Tunnel. The time needed to bypass Maastricht has fallen from more than 30 minutes to just 5 minutes, radically transforming urban mobility. This result is made possible by the reliability of the industrial monitoring deployed with AVEVA Plant SCADA, which ensures the continuous operational availability of this strategic infrastructure. It is a concrete demonstration of how digital transformation improves citizens' quality of life.
How can emergency services be integrated into a tunnel SCADA monitoring system?
AVEVA Plant SCADA offers library objects and complex escalation workflows designed specifically for road tunnels. During an incident (vehicle breakdown, smoke, accident), the system automatically alerts emergency services (police, fire, rescue) with full context (location, type, severity). This integration speeds up response and limits the consequences. For the Maastricht tunnel, this functionality was decisive in choosing AVEVA as the end-to-end solution partner for automation and power distribution.