Some say Lambert tunnel needs sprinklers

ST. LOUIS -- Some critics question why Missouri's first highway tunnel, scheduled to open in 2004, won't include a fire sprinkler system.

But officials defend the design of the 1,400-foot Lindbergh Boulevard tunnel and say it will be safe.

The tunnel is part of the expansion plan at Lambert Airport and will pass beneath a new runway due to be ready in 2006. The apparent low bid of $49.02 million on the tunnel is being reviewed.

The plans call for sprinklers only for auxiliary rooms inside the tunnel, not the roadway itself, which raises a red flag in the mind of Russell Maier, a retired engineer who once advised the St. Louis Fire Department on fire protection matters.

"To me it is such an obvious thing and we do it in buildings," Maier told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "We are even beginning to put them in residences now. Why do we have such a blind spot with this particular tunnel?"

Maier thinks the tunnel design should be changed to match those of three highway tunnels in Washington state that have sprinkler systems.

"This is a new concept that is just beginning to grow," said Maier, who was a consultant on one of the Washington tunnels. "There are some being built right now with sprinklers."

But officials say the tunnel will meet the latest fire codes and that its design has been approved by the Federal Aviation Administration and neighboring fire-protection districts.

"There are a lot of people who make a lot of comments," said Lambert Airport director Leonard Griggs. "This tunnel was designed by the best people in the world. ... It meets every safety standard in the world."