Above: The new
automated cone
deployment vehicle
being trialled by
Highways England
Smarter Workzones |
Introducing the advanced collision
system, along with the GPS
transmitters and dash cam footage,
the agency has steadily built up
a reliable and increasingly detailed
picture of the quantity, location and
type of workzones that are occurring
in Nevada’s southern cities.
This has allowed not only for
better control and management of
where roads are being dug up, and
who is doing it, but also contributed
to reduced congestion.
“Our traffic management
folks have Waycare sensors dotted
around the highways and byways
of Southern Nevada, primarily to
predict where crashes may occur
and they have seen speeds decrease
tremendously around workzones
with response times for emergency
responders improving by as much
as 12 minutes.
“Also, because there
is more cooperation and
coordination, we’re
increasingly seeing several
projects combining forces
so that the road is only
dug up once and
everything required for
that road is done then,”
says Peñuelas.
One step beyond
It is a step in the right
direction. But it’s not the only
way in which technology is helping
Automating cone deployment
It’s hoped new Highways England-backed vehicles will
automate a dangerous jobs currently carried out by hand
Cone deployment around the
perimeter of workzones is
a dangerous job. To increase
safety, Highways England (HE)
is investigating the potential
opportunities an automated cone
deploying machine could offer. In
the UK, the task currently requires
two people working in tandem at the
rear of a moving vehicle – usually at
night. Approximately 260-300 cones
weighing 22lbs (10kg) each will be
deployed on a typical 2.5 mile (4km)
long lane closure – amounting to each
worker handling 5-6 tons of cones.
HE and its partners are now
joining forces to create automated
vehicles to lay cones on the
country’s motorways and
major A roads. HE is working
with a group of industry
experts from Kier, HW
Martin Traffic Management, Highway
Care, and King Highway Products to
develop pioneering machines that
will take away the need for cones
to be manually placed. The agency
is funding the development and
establishing a minimum standard
while the companies themselves are
working together in a collaborative
effort to develop the vehicles that
will resolve this potential safety risk
and free up two workers to carry out
other tasks. Testing of two prototype
vehicles is currently underway.
If they prove themselves during
the trials, it is hoped automated cone
laying machines will be implemented
as early as late 2020. The road agency
has recently pioneered the use of
other automated machines, including
a road-marking robot and self-driving
dump trucks.
6 tons
The approximate weight
of the 300 road cones
needed to mark out
a 2.5 mile stretch
of workzone
to make workzones safer
and less disruptive.
On the other side of the
country, the US Department
of Transportation (USDOT)
has awarded an US$8.4m grant
to PennDOT to develop and test
automated driving systems
specifically to enhance safety
within workzones.
The funding was only announced
towards the end of 2019 so ground
work is currently still being done
in preparation for what will be
020 Traffic Technology International March/April 2020
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