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Semcon, a Swedish applied automation company, said it has started an on-site project to clear snow from runway landing lights using autonomous vehicles. Most often the time-consuming job of clearing snow around landing lights has to be done manually because of the intricate maneouvres needed to avoid damaging the lighting systems. The trial project, which started this month, will be demonstrated in about a year’s time at Örnsköldsvik Airport, around 525km north of the Swedish capital Stockholm, accord

Canada’s Alberta province is considering a US$1.2 billion upgrade to its High Load Corridor that recently saw transportation of an 820 tonne petrochemical pipe. The 96m long tower – equivalent to a football pitch in length and about two lanes wide - was made in the capital city Edmonton, loaded onto a special trucking unit and driven the 38km to Fort Saskatchewan, mostly along provincial Highway 14 and then 21. The journey took four days and the tower, a polypropylene-propane splitter - will be instal

Europe’s drive for improved road safety will see new targets being set. Previous ambitious plans to reduce road casualty rates have not been achieved, so new strategies are being devised. The European Transport Safety Commission (ETSC) is setting out its latest plans. In 2010, the European Union renewed its commitment to improve road safety by setting a target of reducing road deaths by 50% by 2020, compared to 2010 levels. This target followed an earlier target set in 2001 to halve road deaths by 2010. A n

Construction of a major new expressway is due to commence in Laos during February 2019. The country is also planning an extensive programme of road upgrades and development work. Construction is commencing on a four-lane expressway that will connect Dongmakkhai village in Xaythany district and the Lao International Trade Exhibition and Convention Centre in Xaysettha district. The project is benefiting from US$200 million from a local firm and Chinese company Nolico. The 15.2km expressway is intended to cu

The A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon improvement scheme has become the first UK project to use temporary solar - instead of diesel - lighting. The A14 is the UK’s biggest road construction project with a budget of nearly US$2 billion to upgrade 34km of trunk road between Cambridge and Huntingdon with completion set for December 2020. The A14 Integrated Delivery Team, working on behalf of project client Highways England, is the largest user in the country of year-round temporary solar trailer-transported lights.

Nyx Hemera Technologies will release TLACS-U, a version of the adaptive lighting control system TLACS, specifically for underpasses and short tunnels in North America and Europe. TLACS - tunnel lighting addressable control system – with LED and HPS lighting systems is installed in more than 75 tunnels worldwide, including in Singapore, Spain, Peru, the US and Canada with LED and HPS lighting systems. TLACS-U has been developed for underpass and small tunnels operators who want to get the most from the

Automated access control is not only safer for road crews but reduces the time and cost of deployment of signage for access and traffic control.

Traffic managers can control their variable message signs with greater flexibility and speed thanks to an app from Bartco UK and its sister company MVIS. BartcoLive enables users of Bartco UK VMS to create messages remotely via Apple and Android smartphones, tablets and laptops, accessing the chief sign-management operating platform, Web Studio. In addition to message creation, BartcoLive offers secure login, a searchable list of assets, details regarding the status of each asset as well as its location o

AGD Systems, a UK manufacturers of ITS products, has announced two major enhancements to its 318 Traffic Control Radar. The 318 can now detect stationary or queuing traffic. This, together with the addition of WiFi AGD Touch-setup technology and an enhanced user setup GUI, will facilitate MOVA installations and other strategic applications. As more local authorities aim to eradicate in-ground detection from their road networks, thereby cutting the costs of installation, repair and ongoing maintenance, the

Nortech says that its newest range of full colour LED variable message signs is fully compliant with the European VMS standard EN12966. The units are contained in a robust weatherproof IP65 aluminium housing and come either as a compact, single display sign or as a single/multilevel information sign complete with artwork. The multilevel signs are available with from two- to five-level counts as standard, with customers' specific count levels also available. The company says that this makes them ideal for

Intercomp reports that its new LP788 wheel load scale is now NTEP Class IIII certified for direct enforcement for static wheel load weighing. The 17.4kg scale features single-person portability and ease of setup for rapid weighing of vehicles. At just under 22mm high and with a 66cm-wide platform for dual tyres, the digital scale uses Intercomp’s RFX wireless weighing technology. The LP788 NTEP-certified model features a weighing capacity of nearly 10 tonnes/wheel (20 tonnes/axle) which allows users to ea

Portable traffic light manufacturer Hollco has delivered the first of its new RadioConnect2 (RC2) system. The RadioConnect2 went to Go Traffic Management which helped contribute to the development of RadioConnect2, said Phil Hutchinson, a director of Hollco, based in England. “By focusing on energy efficiency we have improved run times to up to 18 days without the need for battery replacement or recharging. This will generate significant savings for operators by reducing the frequency of site visits. It wi

UK contractor Eurovia Surfacing and Sims Milling, based near London, are trialling an automatic braking system that could save the lives of workers and pedestrians. The Banksman Auto Braking radar system is designed to remove the risk of accidents while a vehicle is reversing, with 100% accuracy at detecting objects. The system - provided by Vision Techniques – emits low-energy microwaves from a unit mounted at the rear of the vehicle. If an obstruction or hazard is detected then the system will automatica

An important construction machinery exhibition for the global equipment market is being planned for the Chinese city of Changsha in May 2019.

A tender has been announced to build a third lane for the A2 motorway between Lodz and Warsaw in Poland. According to the Polish General Directorate for National Roads and Motorways (GDDKiA), the cost will be around €139 million with completion set for 2021. The A2 is part of the country’s road infrastructure connecting Poland with the European motorway network. The A2 Motorway is part of the TransEuropean Road Network (E30) from Cork in Ireland to Omsk in Russia and is located in Pan-European transport

A number of major road concession agreements in Brazil are coming to the end of their terms by 2021. This includes eight concession packages for key routes, extending some 2,400km in all and generating over US$521 million/year in toll revenue. Tendering will have to be carried out for all of these routes, with two of the most prominent being the Nova Dutra highway linking Sao Paulo with Rio de Janeiro and the 218km Washington Luis highway in Sao Paulo State. At present CCR has the concession for the Nov

Concern has been expressed in Colombia at potential traffic congestion around the new Tunel de Oriente in Antioquia. Existing roads in Baltimore in Medellin and Sajonia in Rionegro are thought to face potential traffic issues once the tunnel opens, as they have not yet been upgraded. The authorities in Rio negro have launched plans to upgrade 29km of link roads for the tunnel. However further works will be required. Some new bridges will also be constructed to help traffic flow. Meanwhile work is starting

Vietnam is setting a plan in progress to cut the country’s road crash rate. The aim is to reduce deaths and serious injuries on the country’s road network by 5-10%. Various measures are being introduced in a bid to reduce risks for road users, such as better enforcement of existing laws and better traffic flow management for major cities.

Work to the third section of Bangkok’s expressway project is being planned in Thailand. A section of the new expressway will use existing pillars on Prasert Manoonkij Road, constructed originally for a project that was subsequently abandoned in 1994. The new expressway section will connect the Kasetsart intersection with Nawamin Road. It will also connect with the Bang Yai intersection. The work is being carried out in two phases. The first will stretch 12.2km and will connect with Bangkok’s Outer Ring Road

PSS has launched the RoadQuake Raptor to transport, deploy, realign and retrieve RoadQuake 2F temporary portable rumble strips in work zones. The machine mounts to the front of a vehicle and has a capacity of 12 RoadQuake strips. The product provides “portable positive protection” when deploying and retrieving RoadQuake strips and is ideal for short duration, short-term and mobile operations, says the company. It’s all about safety, explained David Cowan, chief executive of PSS, located in Cleveland,