Skip to main content

Humber Bridge toll goes ORT

Civil engineering firm Britcon has completed works for a new US$8.8 million state-of-the-art toll collection facility on the Humber Bridge to replace the toll collection system which was installed in 1981. The new collection system will include one of the first open road tolling arrangement to be installed in the UK, where vehicles do not need to stop while driving through the toll plaza. Britcon undertook full infrastructure works for the project on behalf of Sociedad Ibérica de Construcciones Eléctrica
October 17, 2014 Read time: 2 mins
Civil engineering firm Britcon has completed works for a new US$8.8 million state-of-the-art toll collection facility on the Humber Bridge to replace the toll collection system which was installed in 1981. The new collection system will include one of the first open road tolling arrangement to be installed in the UK, where vehicles do not need to stop while driving through the toll plaza.

Britcon undertook full infrastructure works for the project on behalf of Sociedad Ibérica de Construcciones Eléctricas (6770 SICE), a leading specialist consulting with the Humber Bridge Board on intelligent transport and environmental control systems. SICE is now progressing installation of the electronics and expects to complete the entire project by summer 2015.

Britcon was contracted to manage the decommissioning of the existing toll provision, supply and install a temporary toll system during the construction process and design and construct the new facility in its entirety. This included major alterations to the existing highway and open road toll lanes, construction of the toll plaza housing structures and collection system equipment.

The new facility will also reduce the number of booths from the existing six, to three in each direction with automatic barriers. The system uses the RFID-based 'HumberTag' that is read each time the customer passes through the toll booths, allowing them to drive straight through without interruption.

Britcon managing director, Paul Clarkson, said, “The existing toll collection system was installed in 1981 and as such the technology was becoming obsolete and high maintenance.

"The new and innovative collection system includes one of the first open-road tolling arrangements to be installed in the UK, where vehicles do not need to stop while driving through the toll plaza. They are billed through electronic methods via tags tied to a Humber Bridge toll account.”

Related Content

  • January 30, 2012
    All-electronic toll collection success in Denver
    Teri England, Diamond Consulting Services Ltd, describes the E-470's switchover to all-electronic toll collection. In June 2007, the E-470 Public Highway Authority made the business decision to transition to an All-Electronic Toll Collection (AETC) system - in other words, become a cashless road.
  • April 25, 2013
    Upgrading Turkey's tolling system
    A programme modernising road tolling equipment on Turkey’s national highway network has resulted in what is arguably Europe’s most advanced toll system, reports Jon Masters. Turkey has introduced a new system of technology for charging for use of its 2000km national highway network, heralded as the first full-scale use of passive RFID tags for electronic open road tolling in Europe. The new ‘Fast Passing System’ (HGS) is an upgrade of Turkey’s existing Automatic Passing System (OGS) technology, which uses
  • April 25, 2013
    Widest bridge in the world Port Mann open in Vancouver
    Port Mann Bridge, designed to growing regional congestion and improve the movement of people, goods and transit throughout greater Vancouver, is now open for business. The widest bridge in the world, the Port Mann Bridge located in the metro Vancouver area, in British Columbia, Canada, features an Open Road Tolling (ORT) system, also called All Electronic Tolling (AET), which will ultimately cross all 10 lanes of traffic.
  • November 13, 2012
    Traffic to flow freely over world’s widest bridge
    Pete Goldin reports on a new Egis project in Canada, providing open road tolling operations for the widest bridge in the world. A bridge can present a bottleneck in a system of roads or it can support the smooth and unobstructed flow of traffic. Much depends on the bridge design, surrounding infrastructure and tolling system. By adding lanes and deploying open road tolling (ORT), the new Port Mann Bridge located in the metropolitan Vancouver area in British Columbia, will alleviate congestion at one of the