Skip to main content

Australia trials ‘smart’ road barriers

'Smart' road barriers that will speed up emergency response times to crash sites are being trialled in South Australia. The wire rope technology, designed in South Australia, is expected to improve crash response times by sending an electronic message direct to the city's traffic management centre when a vehicle crashes into the barrier. The technology has been installed on one of the state's most notorious roads and will be trialled for a year at a cost of US$112,000. If successful, the government wi
November 14, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
'Smart' road barriers that will speed up emergency response times to crash sites are being trialled in South Australia.

The wire rope technology, designed in South Australia, is expected to improve crash response times by sending an electronic message direct to the city's traffic management centre when a vehicle crashes into the barrier.

The technology has been installed on one of the state's most notorious roads and will be trialled for a year at a cost of US$112,000. If successful, the government will consider rolling the technology out across the state.

"The rope will detect when a vehicle has crashed into it, triggering an electronic alert to be sent to the Traffic Management Centre at Norwood," Road Safety minister Michael O'Brien said. "By knowing when a vehicle has hit the barrier, the centre can immediately alert emergency services. This will help to improve response times to crashes, rather than waiting for the police, the public or someone involved in a crash to report the accident."

The technology also allows technicians to monitor the tension of the wires.

"If there is a loosening or an impact to the wire ropes, the traffic management centre is alerted and are able to dispatch a work crew to fix the barrier if required," O'Brien said.

Related Content

  • Wavetronix radar-based traffic sensor cuts costs
    May 30, 2013
    While initial cost of radar based detection may be higher than that traditional loops, lower maintenance costs more than balance the books. Following successful field tests, the US city of Greenville, North Carolina, has recently agreed a new policy of phasing in Wavetronix traffic sensor technology’s radar-based SmartSensor Matrix system across its signalised traffic intersections. City traffic engineer Rik DiCesare expects the incremental implementation to deliver benefits to both the city’s taxpayers an
  • The need to accelerate systems standardisation
    January 31, 2012
    While the US has achieved an appreciable level of success when it comes to implementation of standards-based systems at the urban and intersection control levels, the overall standards implementation effort is not progressing at anywhere near a level commensurate with the size of the country and its population, says Christy Peebles, business unit manager with Siemens Industry, Inc.'s Mobility Division. She attributes the situation to a number of factors: "There's a big element of 'Not Invented Here' syndro
  • Peachtree Corners left-turn project reduces highway crashes
    January 2, 2024
    Applied Information & Wavetronix solution alerts drivers in Georgia mobility testbed
  • Monitoring and transparency preserve enforcement's reputation
    July 30, 2012
    What can be done to preserve automated enforcement's reputation in the face of media and public criticism? Here, system manufacturers and suppliers talk about what they think are the most appropriate business models. Recent events in Italy only served to once again to push automated enforcement into the media spotlight. At the heart of the matter were the numerous alleged instances of local authorities and their contract suppliers of enforcement services colluding to illegally shorten amber signal phase tim