1. VOLUME 14
NUMBER 1
Spring 2016
A D V A N C I N G C O L L A B O R A T I O N & C O M M U N I C A T I O N
COMBINING TECHNOLOGIES TO
CREATE INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS
WHY
META-CONVERGENCE
MATTERS
STANDARDIZATION LEADS TO UTILIZATION
Enbridge renovates meeting rooms at HQ in Canada
SUPERBOOK IS A GAME CHANGER
Engineering a spectacular display for Westgate Las Vegas
COLORADO DOT EXPANDS COMMAND & CONTROL SYSTEM
Monitoring from inside the Hanging Lake Tunnels
VIEWPOINT
The nature of huddle rooms

2. 18 IT/AV Report
Monitoring from inside the Hanging Lake Tunnels.
government
Carlos Rogers, PE, is CEO and Senior Engineer, Novate Solutions (www.novate.com).
Colorado DOT Expands Command &
By Carlos Rogers, PE
Deep underground, within a system of mountain tunnels connecting the
final leg and a particularly hazardous section of Colorado’s Interstate 70, is
one of the most technologically advanced command and control centers in the
transportation industry. The tunnels lie within Glenwood Canyon, an extreme-
ly narrow, environmentally sensitive and spectacularly beautiful 12.5-mile road
connecting bridges, viaducts and tunnels. The command and control facility is
located within the Hanging Lake Tunnels, a 4000-foot, two-bore tunnel through
the mountainside in the canyon.
Multiyear Project
Design, engineering and integration firm Novate Solutions recently com-
pleted an upgrade and expansion of the command and control facility. The mul-
tiyear project encompassed the control system modernization and replacement
of network infrastructure covering more than 30 miles of partially elevated
highway and tunnels. The expansion included the installation of a videowall
and connecting the control to the existing analog video system.
In addition to being a critical and direct conduit of transportation through
the state, the multi-award-winning Glenwood Canyon project was also recog-

3. 19Spring 2016www.ITAVReport.comwww.ITAVReport.com
government
A view of Hanging Lake Tunnels
looking to the west. Signs visible
here at the bore entry direct traffic
and warn drivers of potential
hazards ahead. The sign messages
are displayed automatically
throughout the bores when the
operator selects any number of
traffic operational modes.
Control System
The DCS server room houses an array of
redundant mission-critical gear. Locating the
servers, switches, power supplies and other
equipment in this room removes virtually all noise
from the operators’ work area.
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4. 20 IT/AV Report
nized as the “last link,” completing the
original US interstate highway system
when the tunnel opened in 1992.
The tunnel’s command and control
facility was first established in 1991,
just prior to the Glenwood Canyon proj-
ect’s completion, to provide manned
24/7 oversight and first-responder
capability to this remote stretch of road
frequently beset by rockslides and
heavy snowfall. In 2012, Novate Solu-
tions was engaged to update the control
system that, back then, consisted of an
antiquated combination of TVs, cam-
eras and monitors.
System Overhaul
In that initial project, Novate over-
hauled the control system, deploying
an utterly failsafe integrated Distrib-
uted Control System (DCS) designed
to provide better situational awareness
and visual detail to the facility’s com-
mand and control operators, as well as
its first responders.
Spotting and responding to roughly
450 incidents each year, ranging from
simple fender benders to catastrophic
fuel spills or rockslides, puts a signifi-
cant strain on personnel. Not only are
lives at stake, but a road closure means
a 3.5-hour detour, or being stuck on
the road in dangerous weather condi-
tions. The remote location of the tunnel
requires crews to live onsite during
their shifts, working three days on and
three days off.
The facility had to provide failsafe
operation in a highly dynamic envi-
ronment, seamless communication
between all devices and built-in redun-
dancy and reliability without interrup-
tion of operation.
Recent Expansion
The product selection criteria was
based on the requirement to switch
from proprietary equipment that was
no longer being supported to off-the-
shelf process automation equipment
that uses Common Industrial Protocol
(CIP). Equipment had to be robust,
highly secure and easily interoper-
able with other devices. These criteria
specifically drove the use of Cisco and
Rockwell equipment, both of which are
well-established industrial brands that
use CIP with proven track records for
robustness and interoperability.
A significant portion of the equip-
ment budget was spent on Jupiter
Systems [now InFocus], given that the
project was about visualization and the
implementation of a videowall. The
use of InFocus/Jupiter’s solutions was
based around scalability and fault toler-
ance. InFocus/Jupiter PixelNet was the
only solution on the market at the time
that would support multiple failures
and result in no more than a 20% reduc-
tion in performance. InFocus/Jupiter’s
Canvas software offers security fea-
tures that were also instrumental in the
overall package selection of InFocus/
Jupiter as a key equipment vendor for
this project.
Improving Response
Integrated information and visual
detail helps the control room operators
more accurately monitor incidents and
assess the proper response, thereby
improving response times and reduc-
ing operator stress. The DCS system
network infrastructure uses more than
80km of fiber (OM1and SM1) cover-
ing thousands of I/O points that are
monitored and controlled on a 10-
millisecond basis.
With this backbone in place, Novate
installed a 27'x9' seamless digital wall
of 28 Planar Matrix 55-inch remote-
power 50,000 lumen screens to replace
the individual computer monitors. The
videowall, driven by a network of Pixel-
Net video input and output nodes from
InFocus/Jupiter, integrates live camera
feeds from an analog video system
with the DCS. PixelNet delivers high-
resolution, real-time video from any
camera or data source to any screen.
Any information source can be shown
The control room, located above one of the tunnel bores, features five operator workstations. The video selection is designed to provide a sequential view of the highway, organized to
reduce workload. Critical life-safety alarms are audibly reported to operators so the operators can remain focused on key tasks.
government

5. government
on any display as a window on a single
display, or as a window spanning mul-
tiple display devices in a display wall.
The Hanging Lake Tunnels video-
wall allows operators to view multiple
locations from multiple video feeds
simultaneously, as well as to instantly
identify the exact location of any spot-
ted incident for precise communica-
tion to first responders. The DCS also
enables operators to broadcast text to
the 42 roadside message signs and 82
lane-use signal signs (indicating open
and closed lanes) when safety warrants
such notices.
CDOT Office of Information and
Technology Services Lead Kim De-
Coursey explained that, although the
facility’s primary focus is on life safety
control and unobstructed traffic flow,
the department also has a respon-
sibility to Colorado taxpayers. “The
upgrade, completed five years ago, cost
effectively shifted the technology from
a proprietary to an open architecture.
Simultaneously, each new system com-
public safety without issue or interrup-
tion of service.”
Hanging Lake Tunnels set the bar for
technology management of tunnel traf-
fic five years ago and has maintained
that status through this flexible, future-
friendly infrastructure.
Going Forward
Novate is now engaged in a compre-
hensive update of that equipment and
technology designed to further improve
response times through more granular/
visual data views, while simultaneously
adding two-way communication flow
and the ability to selectively communi-
cate information to the public and other
CDOT facilities.
Novate is switching all analog feeds
to IP, adding a multi-honed 1Gbps-
speed network on top of 25-year-old
OM1 62.5/125µm fiber originally
designed to support only 256kbps. The
network carries fire and safety monitor-
ing (CO levels, heat detection, etc.),
TIPS>> Structure failure mode detection
to provide clear root cause
determination.
>> Remove equipment fan noise
from the operators’ area in order
to reduce fatigue and stress.
>> Engage with every level of user
to incorporate different
demands.
>> Provide recovery modes for
nontechnical staff to use during
middle-of-the-night recovery.
ponent was evaluated based on reliabil-
ity and cost-effective performance. The
resulting infrastructure and integrated
system makes it possible to continue
upgrading the command and control
system over time to incorporate new
and more powerful devices to enhance

6. 22 IT/AV Report
government
operation of fire suppression pumps,
2400HP fan operation and traffic control
data.
Analog cameras are being replaced
with streaming high-definition cameras,
along with FLIR thermal imaging cam-
eras providing both visual and thermal
data. Thermal cameras will replace
obsolete linear heat-detection systems
and will set trip points to notify the
control room of high heat or fire. When
this happens, the videowall automati-
cally changes to a fire layout displaying
video images from the FLIR cameras.
All images are produced and delivered
to the DCS through Rockwell/Allen-
Bradley Process Automation Control-
lers (over Common Industrial Protocol)
while securely pushing the H.264
stream through a multiple-failure-point-
tolerant, Cisco IE4000-based, fully
quad-redundant fiber-ring IP network.
From the top of this network, video
data is passed through a pair of redun-
dant Cisco 3850XS Layer 3 switches to
a core based on a Vivotek VMS system.
Thermal, HD Cameras
The thermal and HD cameras sig-
nificantly improve the quality of visual
information provided to facility com-
mand and control operators, along with
more precise coordinates for locating
the incident. “Enhancing the visual acu-
ity of our cameras, along with stream-
ing views, enables us to more quickly
spot a pending incident and helps us
respond with the right equipment at
the right place,” said Todd Anselman,
Hanging Lake Tunnels Electronic
Specialist IV. “We have 33 extraordi-
narily dedicated operators here, and
in so many situations, seconds matter.
The more information we can provide
to augment their significant emergency
response experience, the better service
we can provide to the public and, in
turn, reduce stress in our personnel in
quick-response situations.”
Bidirectional Video
Facility management also wanted
support for bidirectional video feeds
so first responders could see a broader
spectrum of visual information on the
incident and, in turn, transmit addi-
tional incident information back to the
videowall from their phone or onboard
truck computer. In addition, facility
management wanted to be able to share
and continuously provide selected
video feeds to remote CDOT offices for
assistance or collaboration.
To accomplish this video sharing,
Novate installed Canvas collaborative
visualization software from InFocus/Ju-
piter. A Vivotek VMS system manages
video streams from both the legacy
analog cameras and the high-resolution
cameras.
Canvas accepts both H.264 and H.265
video feeds from cameras and analog
to H.264 encoders, accessing both live
and recorded content. Canvas streams
HD video from the secure internal
network to remotely located control
rooms where disaster mitigation teams
can monitor or assist as necessary. In
the near future, Canvas streams will
be pushed through a Verizon private
network to secure authenticated mobile
clients for on-the-highway, real-time
viewing of fire, accident and weather
situations.
Canvas data is routed to PixelNet
for display on the videowall. The DCS
system continually monitors the health
of all components, including InFocus/
Jupiter hardware and software, Cisco
equipment, Vivotek and all other pro-
cess automation components, logging
data and audibly announcing any issues
to the operators with simultaneous
SMS notifications to technical staff.
Transmitting data through a moun-
tain of rock in near real time is chal-
lenging. Simultaneous broadcasting
of bidirectional streams of multiple
data feeds with continual monitoring
of every component within this system
is enormously complex. Above all,
the entire system must be robust and
completely failsafe. This system was de-
signed to survive the remote possibility
of multiple point failure from any point
in the system, from field I/O to video
management systems. Single switch
failures could not be allowed to impact
the system and, further, the system
must be able to tolerate an entire bore
failure (tunnel fires will melt fiber)
without any data loss.
Accordingly, all critical components,
such as the Cisco 3850XS switches,
the PixelNet Domain Control servers,
the PixelNet video nodes, PixelNet
switches and Canvas servers are all
redundant, so any failure will result in
minimal loss of video and data streams,
if any. Further, the system must be able
to be maintained by field staff alone
for 24/7/365 operation. Rockslides and
The operators manage the DCS in addition to radio
communications with fire departments, law enforcement and
maintenance news. This centralized approach ensures that
seamless communication is possible for all responding agencies.
(continued on page 33)

7. 33Spring 2016
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systems are provided for all key compo-
nents of the switching and daily opera-
tion of the system.
Modern control rooms cannot run
properly without the use of a high-
quality KVM system. We installed a
KVM system from Thinklogical in the
control room, and each PC required for
operation or used as source equipment
is located in the rack room. We also
installed KVM control of all systems
delivered to each position required
through the system over an IP network.
The system has individual access lists
and requirements for each user, based
on their privileges and workflow re-
quirements. In a pinch, any seat could
access any system in the design.
Four Samsung 75-inch flatpanel
LCDs installed on the walls in the
control room replicate the content on
the LED screens. Additionally, two
Samsung 48-inch LCDs located at the
monitoring stations provide a preview
of the games.
Nearly 10 miles of data cabling con-
nects the video sources, and processing
and distribution equipment to the LED
video-wall. Signals from the LED control-
ler out to the videowall are sent over Cat5
using proprietary IP-based protocol.
There are two zones of audio for daily
operation: one for general sports and
one for racing. The audio systems were
selected, in coordination with Westgate’s
onsite staff, to match equipment already
in use. At the heart of the audio system
are three Harman Soundweb London
BLU-806 DSPs, three Biamp Tes-
iraFORTE DSPs with AVB, two Ashly
eight-channel stereo line mixers, Shure
mics (including a ULXD system), VUE
Audiotechnik al-4 line arrays, as well as
best-of-breed components from Crest-
ron, Extron, Motu, Genelec, Cisco, Bit-
tree and Adaptive Technologies. Audio
processing with Dante interconnectivity
is located in the new rack room.
The front of house (FOH) system
serves a number of zones with specific
requirements, with some systems used
in the daily operation and other sys-
tems used only for events. Four sets of
line array speakers are installed above
the LED screens at selected points in
the facility to treat the floor. Sound
from the line arrays can be focused to
the areas desired.
Connectivity to Westgate’s AV
wireless network enables authorized
personnel to make changes from re-
mote locations through an iPad, when
necessary.
There are 22 racks with audio, video
and RF equipment in the room down
the hall from the control room. The
rack room is climate controlled and fea-
tures raised flooring similar to a server
or data center level room. Twenty tons
of chilled air is routed through the
bottom of the racks and exhausts out
the top.
No one had ever placed an LED
order this big before, and lead time for
manufacturing was a huge concern.
We had to work with Christie to build
and test the LED videowall in sections
to meet our deadline. This required
SUPERBOOK IS A GAME CHANGER
(continued from page 27)
COLORADO DOT EXPANDS COMMAND & CONTROL SYSTEM
(continued from page 22)
heavy snow conditions will sometimes
isolate command and control opera-
tors for significant periods of time. In
addition, any issue has to be reported
audibly in the control room, visually in
the DCS and via SMS to technical staff.
“The Novate team has in-depth, long-
term knowledge of this facility,” said
DeCoursey. “Not only do they know
the systems here, but they understand
where technology is going and they
keep us on top of our game. They
consistently exceed our expectations
and meet significant challenges in a
practical and cost-effective way, with an
overriding focus on public safety.
cess points, network devices and other
IT systems are coming to touchpanels,
videoconferencing cameras, digital
signage displays and more. AV profes-
sionals are getting good at standardized,
simplified AV solutions. The biggest
challenge now is making them secure.
When a customer says that his organ-
ization is considering prohibiting AV
HOW AV IS BECOMING MORE LIKE IT
(continued from page 6)
detailed coordination with the manu-
facturer, the component suppliers and
the shipping company to coordinate
all of those moving pieces. The main
LED videowall was only part of the $13
million AV budget, so we had to be cost
conscious.
The scale of the project required
greater attention to detail and precision
alignment than smaller videowalls. We
had great support from our partners
and manufacturers, especially Christie
Spyder, Crestron and Thinklogical.
Reflecting on the project, our teams
at HB are grateful for the experience
of working on such a unique installa-
tion, and proud of Westgate LV’s new
SuperBook.
systems based on security concerns,
we all need to pay attention.
In describing his ideal AV vendors,
William told researchers, “They need to
have an understanding of all the ways
the AV solution will communicate with,
or impact, IT and security.”
If you don’t understand that yet, you’re
in for an IT-like awakening.
“Glenwood Canyon will always face
significant environmental and weather
issues. The Hanging Lake Tunnels
command and control facilities must
keep pace with both what nature and
drivers throw at us every day to keep
this breathtaking place accessible for
travel, recreation and transit.”