Arup and Amey to design Australian smart motorway project

Arup, working with Amey, is to deliver the M4 Smart Motorway project, said to be the first of its kind in New South Wales, Australia. The commission includes all technology and civil works, spanning from detailed design through to construction support services.
September 28, 2016 Read time: 2 mins

7942 Arup, working with 6110 Amey, is to deliver the M4 Smart Motorway project, said to be the first of its kind in New South Wales, Australia.

The commission includes all technology and civil works, spanning from detailed design through to construction support services.

The M4 Smart Motorway project will introduce intelligent technology to monitor traffic conditions, manage congestion and respond to incidents in real-time on the existing M4 Western Motorway. The project aims to increase traffic throughput, with a potential reduction of peak travel times by up to 15 minutes and accidents by up to 30 per cent.

The Arup and Amey team was originally formed in England, combining Arup’s technical expertise with Amey’s operational management to win a recent design package of the Smart Motorway Programme on the M1. This considerable international knowledge, combined with both firms' local highways experience, was a significant asset in securing this project.

The local team drew heavily on the knowledge of their UK counterparts, with key international members joining the design team and attending interviews with Roads and Maritime NSW throughout the tender process.

Key features of the project will include additional traffic sensors and CCTV cameras to monitor traffic conditions; and variable message signs, speed limits and lane use signs to be able to adapt to demand.  Ramp signals will assist by managing traffic flow onto the motorway.

Due to be completed in 2020, the project will bring the M4 into a select class of Smart Motorways in Australia, including another recent Arup project, Melbourne’s M1 Monash and Westgate Freeway Upgrade.

Detection, Monitoring & Machine Vision Urban Traffic Control Air Quality & Weather Systems

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Development of cooperative driving applications for work zones
    July 17, 2012
    The German AKTIV project is researching several cooperative driving applications for use in work zones. PTV's Michael Ortgiese details progress. The steep increases in traffic volumes predicted back in the early 1990s have unfortunately been proven to be more than accurate. In Germany, the AKTIV project continues to look into cooperative technologies' potential to reduce the impact of those increased traffic volumes and keep traffic moving despite limitations in infrastructure capacity.
    Read More
  • Developing ‘next generation’ traffic control centre technology
    July 4, 2012
    The Rijkswaterstaat and Highways Agency have joined forces to investigate what the market can do to realise an idealistic vision for traffic control centre technology. Jon Masters reports One particular seminar session of the Intertraffic show in Amsterdam in March was notably over subscribed. So heavy was the press to attend that your author, making his way over late from another appointment, could not get in and found himself craning over other heads locked outside to overhear what was being said. The
    Read More
  • Active traffic management increases safety and capacity
    February 2, 2012
    WSDOT is deploying Active Traffic Management in order to increase safety and capacity on its strategic roads. WSDOT's Patricia Michaud elaborates
    Read More
  • Technology targets Red-X transgressors
    February 25, 2016
    Currently deployed technology is being used to detect motorists ignoring the ‘red-X’ signs that indicate the lane is closed, as Colin Sowman hears. With an increasing network of ‘Smart Motorways’ - all-lane running or the opening of hard shoulders during times of congestion - Highways England (HE) has identified a growing problem with ‘red-X’ compliance. The ‘red-X’ sign signifies a closed lane or lanes and used to provide a safer area for stranded motorists, emergency workers or road maintenance crews and
    Read More

Highlighted Content