A cone-laying vehicle has put down traffic management on the A5 and M54 in Shropshire following the successful completion of off-road tests.
Developed by Highways England and a group of industry experts, the automated system will put a stop to workers having to manually put out and collect cones.
As previously reported by CiTTi, the solution aims to eliminate the safety risk and strain on workers who lift up to 10 tonnes of equipment per shift.
The automated cone-laying vehicle avoids the need for two people working from the back of a truck in passing traffic, often through the night and in all weathers.
Highways England is working with Kier Traffic Management to resolve the potential safety risk for workers as well as road users, which means the machine must also pose no further risk to traffic.
Stuart Pegg, Kier general foreman, who used the vehicle to put out traffic management on the A5, said: “It was great to be invited to participate in this ground-breaking advancement in traffic management.
“We have ironed out a few initial teething problems and I found the automated cone-laying vehicle easy to use. It performed above my personal expectations.”
There will now be further testing of the Highway Care vehicle on the M4 in Berkshire. If the vehicle can lay or collect at least 400 cones every 10 seconds the test will be deemed a success and rolled out across the network by the end of the year.
A second vehicle, developed by competitor King Highway Products, is currently undergoing testing in Holland and will complete off-road trials in the UK in the near future.
