SNCF Project Scope

SNCF Organisation        SNCF Key Personnel

SNCF is working on  WP10 towards the production, for the first time, of a decision support system, based on encoded knowledge from actual experts combined with machine induced rules from case histories from a corpus of tunnel historical data. This will enable step change in the quality and efficiency of tunnel maintenance procedures and will yield a reduction of the following principal risks:

  • structural risks related to the real state of the tunnels
  • economic risks related to the company strategy concerning the financial envelopes conceded as regards maintenance
  • human risks related to the accidentology of the structures

 The decision support system will help minimise the risk of making wrong choices, such as leaving a tunnel operational although safety critical repair operations are urgently needed, will optimise inspection/repairs interventions, both in terms of technical scope and costs and will create the conditions for more effective and efficient training of new experts, providing them with a method of data assessment founded on verified expertise and actual case histories.

 It will allow a better definition of inspection cycles, with a focus on high risk tunnels and a longer cycle for low risk tunnels.