A clever little robot is saving drivers on England’s busiest
roads from hundreds of hours of disruption.
The quirky machine uses precise positioning technology to mark
out where white lines need to be painted on new or resurfaced
roads.
The robot has already saved hundreds of hours of working time on
various Highways England projects across the country, including
Britain’s biggest road upgrade, the £1.5 billion A14 Cambridge to
Huntingdon improvement.
It also recently pre-marked eight miles of the M6 in
Staffordshire in four hours. This work would usually take two
engineers over a week to complete.
Savings elsewhere include saving 27 hours of working time marking
three miles of hard shoulder on the M4 in Berkshire, 77 hours
covering five miles of the M6 in Warwickshire, and six hours
working on two miles of the M1 in Leicestershire, with further
work done on the M60 smart motorway at Manchester.
Besides helping drivers, it also has safety benefits for
roadworkers and enables them to focus on completing other
essential work on each project.
Lamb, construction director on
the A14 where the robot has been used, said:
“We’re always looking at innovative new ways of working, which
can help road users, and make our projects more efficient while
supporting improved engineering. With safety our top priority,
the time savings the robot can provide, coupled with removing our
operatives from a potentially hazardous situation, make it a
great solution.
“We’ve also been working with a self-driving dumper truck on the
project, completing trials of these new technologies to help
Highways England more deliver its ambitious programme of roads
improvement quickly, safely and efficiently. These technologies
are also supporting new jobs, with the engineers of tomorrow
needing to learn new skills such as programming this autonomous
equipment.”
Ordinarily, pre-marking road markings is a time-consuming job,
calculating the positioning of the markings and walking several
miles to spray or chalk them on the road. By using the robot,
road workers spend far less time in the road and are at less risk
of an accident - around 250 drivers illegally drive into
roadworks every month, putting workers’ lives at risk. Bending
down to pre-mark roads by hand can also raise the risk of back
injuries. The robot also boasts improved accuracy and can mark
the road faster.
The robot has been so successful, specialist contractor WJ, who
adopted the technology for it to complete the pre-marking, has
now invested in a second one to help complete more of its work.
By completing roadworks faster, the robot will help contribute to
the goals of reducing congestion, improving journey times, and
supporting economic growth, while cost savings can be used to
provide more or better-quality road-building materials.
Wayne Johnston, WJ Group Managing Director, said:
“I am passionate about changing the way we work in this industry
and the WJ Robotic PreMarker represents a real step change.
However, it is just a starting point, we will continue to invest
in research and development to find better, more efficient and
safer ways of working.”
The 12-mile Huntingdon Southern Bypass, which makes up around two
thirds of the A14 upgrade, opened a year early, in December. Work
on the rest of the project, between Swavesey and Milton,
continues and is on schedule to completed as planned by December
2020.
For the latest information about the A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon
improvement scheme, including advance notification of road
closures, visit www.highways.gov.uk/A14C2H
follow @A14C2H on Twitter and like the scheme Facebook page
at www.facebook.com/A14C2H/.
NOTES TO EDITORS
Highways England is the government-owned company responsible for
modernising, maintaining and operating England’s motorways and
major A roads.
You can download pictures of the robot, and a video of it
painting Happy New Year, here: https://1drv.ms/u/s!AoeN9MzdoO48nSb3qf63SwfuHnJv?e=jIff9z
The £1.5bn A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon project will upgrade 21
miles of the A14 to three lanes in each direction (four lanes
between Bar Hill and Girton) adding additional capacity, boosting
the local and national economy and cutting up to 20 minutes off
journeys.
The project will include a major new bypass for Huntingdon,
widening the A1 between Brampton and Alconbury, widening the
existing A14 between Swavesey and Milton and improving the
junctions at Bar Hill, Swavesey, Girton, Histon and Milton. The
A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon improvement scheme will also include
a local access road between Cambridge and Swavesey which will
link into the old A14 all the way to Huntingdon. Improvements in
Huntingdon town centre are also being delivered, including the
demolition of the A14 viaduct and new link roads.
The new A14 will open to traffic by the end of 2020, although
some finishing work such as the removal of the A14 viaduct in
Huntingdon will continue beyond that.
The A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon improvement scheme is being
delivered on behalf of Highways England by a joint venture of UK
contractors and design consultants: Balfour Beatty, Costain and
Skanska and for design, Atkins and CH2M. The delivery team is
known as the A14 Integrated Delivery Team.
