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machine needs to be assessed by an independent regulatory to meet the GG104 health and safety assessment before facing a number of trials on the live network.
“We have reached the point where we are halfway through that final stage, so things are looking very promising indeed,” says Mr Ducker. He hopes a final review and acceptance will take place in the first part of next year and is hopeful the machine will be on the roads by next summer. The Highway Care machine has been doing its live tests on the M4.
As a project partner, Kier is looking to procure the machine when it is ready as is another tier 1 contractor. Highway Care will put together a strategic delivery group that will manage the launch of the machines to ensure the continued monitoring of the in-field performance and capability of these machines as they first go onto the network. “There has been so much compressed interest in this since we first went to the drawing board back in 2010,” says Mr Duncker.
But why was this development so important for Highway Care and its growing portfolio of products? “We have always try to be a leading innovator in health and road safety products in the UK and saving lives and preventing industry has been a mission of our for a long time so
this is the perfect opportunity to continue that,” says Mr Ducker. “And that really is what we are trying to achieve here. Some people might question whether this is about taking jobs away from operatives, but it really isn’t. As many in the industry will know, the traffic management
sector and in some cases the wider highways industry is very under resourced so if an operative is not putting out cones anymore in the future, that skill and resource will be deployed elsewhere because it is much needed right now,” he adds.
So, what is next for the technology-can it be taken any further? “We want to see if we can consider developing ancillary technology that will help improve the safety of a closure and how these machines can be integrated into the bigger picture. Wouldn’t it be great if we had
a scenario where using automation we could digitally assess the live traffic count and the machine goes out and puts out a whole closure at the push of a button?” says Mr Ducker.
www.saferhighways.co.uk
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