Roadwork cones go high-tech
One of the most dangerous occupations in the world is road maintenance, which has injured many workers on the job, especially in temporary roadworks. Often, these sites – which are increasing in number due to ageing infrastructure and more adverse weather in recent years – are only protected by soft barriers such as traffic cones. Such barriers are not ideal for safety and are also not cost effective and often require road hazard lamps to indicate their location to road users at night. The EU-funded project SAFELANE(opens in new window) (An all-encompassing, intelligent safety and asset management system for highway maintenance) has helped to bolster safety and safeguard the lives of road maintenance workers. Building on existing Intellicone technology by the project partners, which employs sensors, road hazard lamps and wireless communications to enhance the safety of temporary work zones, the project worked on an improved solution to roadwork. More specifically, the project team developed an innovative battery system that can be charged in situ. It brought cost efficiency and reliability to roadwork sites, in addition to avoiding use of millions of batteries that end up in landfills or that are destined for recycling. SAFELANE also integrated its safety system with current road maintenance and management computer networks and systems in order to achieve more cost savings and better reporting of incidents. Among its achievements, the team enhanced the Intellicone technology with improved data-logging mechanisms and sensors for vehicle impacts. It conducted trials and observed the results using high-speed video and impact sensor data. They also built mechanisms to detect deliberate and malicious removal of the cones to minimise vandalism and enhance safety. Test results have demonstrated the benefits of the Intellicone Safelane technology in reducing risk and strengthening safety. Work was also completed on specifications and design of the smart battery and mass induction system based on wireless charging technology. In summary, the project's main outcomes include the award winning Intellicone temporary work-zone safety technology. They also include a smart rechargeable battery that can be induction charged and can transmit data to an Intellicone alarm or Safelane transceiver if moved or impacted. The technology helps workers to mitigate dangerous situations in case of a perimeter breach and enable live site tracking online. Thanks to these achievements, Europe's roads stand to become safer and more secure. This should lead to a reduction in injuries and fatalities, minimising in turn emotional distress and financial costs. The environment will also benefit from a smarter, cleaner system that doesn't pollute landfills with batteries.
