AGD Systems deploys radar wrong-way detection in Tyne Tunnel

Following a highly successful trial, AGD Systems’ new generation intelligent radar detection system, the 318, which is specifically designed for strategic applications, has now been fully deployed at the Tyne Tunnel for wrong way detection.
July 24, 2015 Read time: 2 mins

Following a highly successful trial, 559 AGD Systems’ new generation intelligent radar detection system, the 318, which is specifically designed for strategic applications, has now been fully deployed at the Tyne Tunnel for wrong way detection.

While the Tyne Tunnel concessionaire, TT2, had video analysis systems in place within the tunnels to detect vehicles travelling in the wrong direction, this was only detecting the event once an accident risk had arisen.

AGD’s FMCW radar, which uses much of the technology from the company’s Home Office Type Approved enforcement portfolio, is located externally to improve road users’ safety and prevent accidents by monitoring wrong-way detection on the approach to the tunnel. The radar’s criteria is set to alert if a vehicle is travelling the wrong way down one of the lanes.  

It has an easy to use Bluetooth-enabled graphical user interface (GUI) and integrated easily to TT2’s existing tunnel control systems with no for additional software or hardware. The radar also provides a useful ‘heartbeat’ message which confirms the system is still operating and alerting operators in the unlikely event of a system failure.

Hanson Pottinger, technical manager of TT2 explained: “After the redevelopment of the existing Tyne Tunnel and the changes to the road layout on the approach to the tunnel, we had a number of instances when drivers, having mistakenly arrived at the north end of the northbound tunnel have tried to turn themselves around and attempted to return to the south side of the river via the northbound tunnel. It goes without saying that these drivers were putting other road users, who do not expect oncoming traffic in a unidirectional tunnel with a restricted line of sight due to the curvature of the tunnel, at huge risk.”

Ian Hind, commercial director of AGD Systems said: “The 318 offers a unique and distinct platform and is one of our most advanced radar systems to date.”

Detection, Monitoring & Machine Vision Classification & Data Collection

For more information on companies in this article

AGD

Related Content

  • Assessing the potential of in-vehicle enforcement systems
    December 4, 2012
    Jason Barnes considers the social and ethical ramifications of using in-vehicle safety technologies to fulfil enforcement functions. Although policy documents often imply close correlation between enforcement, compliance and safety – in part, as a counter to accusations that enforcement is rather more concerned with revenue generation – there is a noticeable reluctance among policy makers and auto manufacturers to exploit in-vehicle safety systems for enforcement applications. From a technical perspective t
    Read More
  • Railroad quiet zone and high-speed rail crossing protection from Island Radar
    November 17, 2020
    Driver protection at railroad crossings is not foolproof. Drivers do ignore obvious warnings at crossings, endangering their safety as well as the safety of other motorists and rail operators. Railroad and traffic managers continue to add supplemental safety measures to crossings to improve safety as rail traffic becomes more complex with quiet zones and high-speed rail corridors.
    Read More
  • Urban tunnel replaces viaduct, improves safety
    October 10, 2012
    Earthquake sensors, automatic barriers and real time monitoring systems are all part of a scheme to make a major Seattle traffic artery safer, by taking it underground. Huw Williams reports. Seattle’s metropolitan area of 3.5 million people, like much of the western seaboard of the United States, lies in an earthquake zone. In Seattle’s case, the city and its hinterland sit atop a complex network of interrelated active geological faults capable of severe seismic activity and posing complex considerations fo
    Read More
  • The UK’s busiest crossing adopts free flow charging
    April 30, 2015
    Colin Sowman looks at the transition to free-flow charging on the Dartford Crossing, a notorious congestion blackspot on the UK motorway network. The Dartford Crossing, where London’s orbital M25 motorway crosses the lower reaches of the River Thames 32km (20 miles) to the east of Central London, has long been a major source of congestion. Now, to alleviate the congestion caused by some 50 million crossings per year, the Highways Agency has adopted a free-flow charging system - but the Crossing’s location a
    Read More

Highlighted Content