Gosport Evacuation Alarm
The Royal Navy Oil Fuel Depot in Gosport, Hampshire provides fuel to the nearby wharf where vessels of the Royal Navy are refuelled. Being located near industrial and residential areas, the fuel depot can create a high risk for public safety, if an accident were to occur. For this reason, an obvious requirement of safety was needed within the depot, to warn nearby people of occurrences. The initial objectives of the alarm system, which has both Alarm Warning Tones and Voice Announcement capability, was to provide a comprehensive warning system to persons living or working within 1.5km of the fuel depot.
The bespoke dedicated system, designed and installed by Tyco, integrates a series of discs – known as ‘modulators’ of which each gives a 360˚ amplification. This allows the entire evacuation area to be covered from a single point; thus giving large savings on installation and disruption associated with deploying a conventional distributed system. The modulators are stacked and mounted on an 11 metre column that was specifically designed for this project. The column incorporates a central compartment to house all cabling and electronics internally, providing protection and security against potential vandalism, sabotage and extreme weather conditions.
The alarm system is controlled by security personnel, via the security office, from which seven warning tones can be selected and broadcasted. In addition to this, voice announcements and instructions can be issued via microphone. The total system is battery supported; ensuring that the full alarm system is operational in the event of mains failure. In addition, this specially commissioned alarm evacuation system can be extended to further sites if required. Extra sites can be selected and controlled with ease, using Windows based software.
The system successfully passed rigorous tests; undertaken in conjunction with the emergency services and local community. During these tests, the coverage exceeded the initial specification of 1.5km from the depot, and evacuation signals could be clearly heard up to 2km away.
