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

  • Weighbridge aids national truck approval
    June 29, 2015
    UK truck supplier Central Truck Bodies and Central Crane has taken delivery of a dynamic axle weighbridge system from axle weighing specialist Axtec. The weighbridge will be used to ensure that all vehicles built by the company are compliant the requirements of the VCA, the UK’s national approval authority for new road vehicles, agricultural tractors and off-road vehicles. Designing and building bespoke lorry loader bodies for plant or platform vehicles ranging from 3.5 to 32 tonnes, Central Truck Bodies
    Read More
  • Truvelo ranges widely in enforcement
    June 10, 2022
    Mobile and fixed-speed and red-light solutions will be on show at Traffex
    Read More
  • Temporary CCTV poses more challenges than permanent installations
    June 12, 2015
    Long-term roadworks pose particular problems for temporary surveillance installations. Converting the hard shoulder to a running lane, either full- or part-time, is the UK Highways Agency’s solution to ease motorway congestion. This is leading to a number of long-term projects where large stretches of the hard shoulder are closed off by temporary concrete barriers and during these roadwork programmes, temporary CCTV cameras are deployed to monitor and record vehicle traffic and workers.
    Read More
  • Russia looks to ITS to curb congestion and reduce accidents
    May 7, 2015
    Major ITS installations are planned as the Russian capital Moscow grapples with extensive traffic problems. At the end of 2014, Russia’s first complex intelligent transport system (ITS) started easing traffic problems in and around the capital Moscow, following the implementation of the plans by the federal government and the city’s authorities.
    Read More

Highlighted Content