Vehicle to improve safety and reduce disruption on motorways

A new maintenance assistance vehicle (MAV) developed by Highways England and Mott MacDonald to help replace overhead signs was inspired by an aircraft catering vehicle and is set to reduce the duration of roadworks.
September 16, 2016 Read time: 1 min

A new maintenance assistance vehicle (MAV) developed by 8101 Highways England and 1869 Mott MacDonald to help replace overhead signs was inspired by an aircraft catering vehicle and is set to reduce the duration of roadworks.

Traditionally, signs are mounted and removed using a flat-bed truck, crane and access platform – a process that can take up to 40 minutes. However with the MAV’s hydraulically elevating body, this can be achieved in around 20 to 25 minutes by using a small jib crane which is mounted on the vehicle itself.

Once elevated to the correct height, the jib crane lifts the detached sign off the gantry and the operatives use a trolley to move it into the truck’s main body. This procedure is reversed when installing a new signs.

The hydraulically powered scissor lift enables the signs at heights of up to 8.5m to be serviced in wind speeds of up to 47mph, while its CCTV cameras enable the driver to correctly position the vehicle below the gantry before maintenance and monitor the operatives while they work.

Urban Traffic Control

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Control room tech ends data overload
    July 22, 2021
    There have never been so many data sources available to traffic control centre operators – but too much data can be as bad as too little when making decisions. Adam Hill asks how control room technology companies can help operators screen out the white noise
    Read More
  • MVIS VMS solution deployed on Highways England’s road upgrade project
    September 4, 2017
    Mobile Visual Information Systems (MVIS) has implemented its DATEX journey time solution (JTS) on Highway’s England’s US$1.9 billion (£1.5billion) A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon upgrade scheme, enabling an average of 85,000 drivers daily who use the 21 mile stretch of road to navigate the roadworks. The project incorporates 26 Bartco UK VMS-Cs variable message signs which display journey times from their locations to the end of the affected stretch of road
    Read More
  • New technology can ‘charge a bus during fifteen-second stop’
    June 3, 2013
    Swiss firm ABB has developed technology that it says can charge a full-sized electric bus during ordinary stops, removing the need for overhead lines in major cities. According to ABB, the bus can be charged with a fifteen-second, 400 kilowatt boost at selected stops, which allows for the vehicle to top off its charge while the passengers are loading or leaving the bus, and a three to four minute charge at the end of the bus line will then fully recharge the batteries.
    Read More
  • Traffic signals turn red to stop speeding drivers
    March 15, 2012
    David Crawford is encouraged by the spread of 'soft' speed policing 
    Read More

Highlighted Content