Skip to main content

Colombia awards major traffic management contract to Indra

Colombian highway concessionaire Coviandes has awarded Indra the contract, worth nearly US$35 million, for the design, installation and start-up of the intelligent traffic systems (ITS) the control and communications systems for 45 kilometres of the Bogota-Villavicencio highway in Colombia.
May 8, 2014 Read time: 2 mins
RSSColombian highway concessionaire 7764 Coviandes has awarded 509 Indra the contract, worth nearly US$35 million, for the design, installation and start-up of the intelligent traffic systems (ITS) the control and communications systems for 45 kilometres of the Bogota-Villavicencio highway in Colombia.

The Bogota-Villavicencio road has the highest traffic growth in the country since it is the only ground connection between central Colombia, the eastern region and Venezuela. Increasing capacity by dualling the road will make it possible to increase the speed limit by 50 km/h and reduce travel times by more than 25 minutes.

Indra’s advanced solutions will control the 18 tunnels, 41 bridges and three overpasses that will allow doubling of the road along approximately one third of the highway, making it possible to travel on two lanes in each direction.

A new operations control centre, located in Naranjal, integrated with two existing control centres, will manage traffic in the eight sectors of the new highway. In common with the other centres, the Naranjal centre will be equipped with Indra's Horus integrated road and tunnel management solution, allowing centralised management of the various systems installed in the new tunnels, which have been designed to meet European security standards for security and operation.

The Horus solution integrates the various ITS systems and provides road operators with access to real-time information on the road status, enabling them to optimise resources during incidents and provide drivers will real-time travel information.

Indra will install automatic incident detection systems throughout the entire Bogota-Villavicencio highway to ensure immediate response to events that could endanger user safety or traffic along the highway. A video surveillance system with automatic accident detection will be installed, along with air quality measurement, incident detection and weather station equipment, and various alarms will be activated in the event of an emergency. Other safety measures include contraflow travel to allow vehicles to use a single carriageway in both directions in the event of an emergency.

Speed sensors and variable message signs will provide drivers with real time information on road conditions, speed limits and incidents. The tunnels will also be equipped with visibility sensors, an artificial lighting system, an emergency and evacuation system, as well as power generators and back-up power systems.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Major upgrade for Mississippi bridges
    September 3, 2013
    Four major bridges over the lower Mississippi are to get intelligent transportation systems (ITS) upgrades, thanks to a US$10 million grant from the US Department of Transportation TIGER (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) fund. The project will expand existing ITS systems in each of the three states to complement previous state and private investments.
  • TomTom provides flexibility for Riyadh
    June 1, 2016
    With five years of traffic disruption ahead and an inadequate traffic monitoring system, the authorities in Riyadh needed a solution – and quickly. In preparation for embarking on what is currently the world’s largest metro construction project, the Arriyadh Development Authority (ADA) in Riyadh needed to put in place measures to minimise the additional congestion and travel delays the five-year project would inevitably cause.
  • LiDAR sets its sights on future problems
    February 23, 2017
    AAdvances in LiDAR are helping transport authorities improve services and identify potential problem areas, as geospatial technology expert Dr Neil Slatcher explains. The effects of climate change on the transport infrastructure have long been a cause of concern within the transportation sector - and not only on the structures themselves but also on the surrounding areas. This year, those concerns have become reality with landslides, structural collapses and surfacing issues impacting services across the wo
  • New technologies enable increased collaboration, cooperation
    July 17, 2012
    The continued expansion of IP camera networks increases the availability of useful information. At the same time, the opportunity exists to increase inter-agency collaboration. This makes information management all the more necessary in the control room environment. But the transportation sector could do a lot to help itself by gaining a better idea up front of what and how it wants to do things, says Electrosonic's Karl Johnson.