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Abstract. The high and constant rate of energy consumption in road tunnels has led researchers to look for more and more efficient lamps and luminaries. The solutions developed have partially contributed to energy saving but consumption is still high, specially in the threshold zone which requires very high levels of luminance, and the solutions found still have important contras like colour performance. In this work, we present a completely different solution: the extension of the "threshold zone" out of the tunnel by means of a transparent tension structure to let visible solar radiation go into the tunnel and achieve the required levels of luminance during daytime without any kind of electrical lighting.

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Abstract.After the successful introduction of transparent tension structures in the portal of road tunnels as an effective measure for energy savings, optimization of such savings has been sought. A computational method based on graphical design capable to simulate the optical properties of the sun, any transparent tension structure and any road tunnel whatever its orientation, has been developed and presented in this paper. A comparison with measurements in a real tension structure placed in the entrance portal of one real tunnel is performed and discussed.

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