The aim of the project is to develop a structure to provide an advanced and efficient light transition solution for tunnels which will improve the current system of electrical projectors:

• Based on natural light so that it is energy-efficient. 
• Environmentally-sustainable so that it does not have any impact on the environment when being operated or due to its location.
• Saves money in terms of road construction and maintenance, avoiding the use of projectors which produce a much higher cost, and has a longer useful life given that it will not need any type of energy to operate and therefore incurs no extra electricity expenses which other methods do.

The project began in October 2013 with a budget of 402,765 euros granted by the Centre for Industrial Technological Development (CDTI) of the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness to FCC Construcción.

The project is led by FCC Construcción in collaboration with the Department of Automation and Systems Engineering at the Polytechnic University of Cartagena. It also has the collaboration and support of State Road Demarcation in Murcia.

The following activities have been carried out during the execution of this project:

• STUDY AND ANALYSIS OF THE VARIABLES INVOLVED IN THE LIGHT TRANSITION AREA AND THEIR INTERRELATIONSHIP. 
• DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE LIGHTING PATTERN.
• OBTAINING AND DETERMINING THE SUITABILITY OF PROTOTYPES IN A PILOT PROJECT
• PLANNING THE VALUATION PROCESS
• VALIDATION OF THE PRODUCT AND VALUATION PROCESS BY MEANS OF PILOT TESTING

The result was a prototype in the Aguilon Tunnel with some important conclusions being drawn:

• The most noteworthy contributions that differentiate this solution from other projects taking place include the amount of energy that the use of the vault saves (a saving of 25% of the energy consumed when lighting the tunnel), safety for the drivers (a transition that is uniform with the practically constant light intensity in the whole area, much more comfortable for the human eye) and the easier maintenance and cleaning.
• The most significant advantages of the vault and the construction method selected include the simplicity of the construction, the durability of the structure and the road safety for the drivers using it.
• The vault could be operated in the short-term.
• For future developments, it has been suggested to define an automatic regulation system for artificial tunnel lighting in the second half of the threshold area, the transition and the inner area, so that it can be adjusted with precision according to the outside lighting levels (threshold and transition areas) and the traffic passing through the tunnel (inner area) (which will save an additional 10%).

On 27 April, the following visited the pilot works of this R&D&I project

- On behalf of the Ministry of Public Works:

Ms. Carmen Sanchez (Deputy Director of Maintenance)
Mr. Carlos Bartolomé Marín (Chief of the Cabinet General Director)
Mr. Vicente Vilanova (Executive advisor of the General Directorate of Traffic)
Mr. Angel Garay (Head of State Road Demarcation in Murcia)

- On behalf of FCC Construcción:

Mr. Santiago Farré (North Area Manager)
Mr. Rafael Catalá (Manager of Valencia-Murcia / North Area)
Mr. Juan Antonio López (Engineer for Valencia-Murcia management / North Area)