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

Related Content

  • February 23, 2017
    LiDAR sets its sights on future problems
    AAdvances in LiDAR are helping transport authorities improve services and identify potential problem areas, as geospatial technology expert Dr Neil Slatcher explains. The effects of climate change on the transport infrastructure have long been a cause of concern within the transportation sector - and not only on the structures themselves but also on the surrounding areas. This year, those concerns have become reality with landslides, structural collapses and surfacing issues impacting services across the wo
    Read More
  • March 3, 2020
    How safe are smart motorways?
    A valiant attempt to ease the UK’s congested strategic road system? Or an idea that should never have seen the light of day? Alan Dron reports on the controversy over smart motorways...
    Read More
  • June 12, 2015
    Close shave for Brazilian project
    Signing the order to equip a new control room just 45 days before the city hosts a major sporting event is challenging - but some deadlines just cannot be moved. There is nothing like a deadline to concentrate minds and effort as Mitsubishi and the Brazilian city of Belo Horizonte discovered in the run-up to the 2014 World Cup. Although municipal authorities had been considering a new command centre for years, it was the hosting of the World Cup last summer that provided the final impetus.
    Read More
  • March 14, 2012
    Developing a wireless cooperative traffic management system
    The use by MDOT of 90-foot concrete poles on which to mount CCTV equipment reduces the number of poles needed to monitor a given area and incidences of occlusion
    Read More

Highlighted Content