Skip to main content

UK port installs Swarco traffic management

FM Conway, the main contractor for the traffic management improvement scheme at the Port of Dover, has awarded Swarco the contract to install 15 variable message signs as part of a US$123 million (£85 million) capital investment programme to better manage and control vehicles through a new freight holding facility to remove more than 4km of queuing traffic from Kent’s highways. Two signs are used to direct heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) into Customs or the holding facility, depending on the quantity of tra
May 18, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
FM Conway, the main contractor for the traffic management improvement scheme at the Port of Dover, has awarded 129 Swarco the contract to install 15 variable message signs as part of a US$123 million (£85 million) capital investment programme to better manage and control vehicles through a new freight holding facility to remove more than 4km of queuing traffic from Kent’s highways.

Two signs are used to direct heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) into Customs or the holding facility, depending on the quantity of traffic; the remainder are installed on a 57.5 metre-long gantry at the start of the holding facility, giving drivers clear information about which lane to enter.

The Port has created a 13-lane holding zone catering for 220 outbound HGVs, limiting the need for Dover Traffic Access Protocol, a ‘rolling road’ HGV queuing system on the A20, and greatly reducing traffic and delays in Dover itself.

The signs, which include over 160,000 individual LEDs, were required to meet the Port’s exacting light emission standards to cater for its 24/7 freight needs and reduce light pollution at night.

As a part of the contract, Swarco also installed its management software, giving the operator 12 settings for different scenarios; 65 traffic detection sensors with count in/out capability; and barriers, operated by a traffic light system, that mark the holding facility’s end.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Carbon finance delivers critical support to mass transit schemes
    February 2, 2012
    David Crawford investigates carbon finance in transport. World Bank carbon finance grants are delivering critical support to major mass transit deployments in emerging and developing economies. Only recently operative in the transport sector, the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM, see panel) is designed to generate additional income streams and improve internal rates of return on projects funded from public- and private-sector sources.
  • Øresund bridges the front line for border crossing traffic
    September 15, 2016
    Timothy Compston considers the challenges faced by the operators of the Øresund Bridge between Denmark and Sweden, the largest structure of its kind across Europe. In light of the concerns about the ongoing security threat and the unprecedented flow of migrants, many of the countries that make up the Schengen Area in Europe have re-introduced border controls. For its part, Sweden has rolled out ID checks for train, bus and ferry passengers from Denmark placing the landmark Øresund Bridge very much on the fr
  • Moveble barriers improve workzone safety, reduce costs
    January 25, 2012
    Two phases of an arterial reconstruction project in Salt Lake City have provided a compelling cost-based argument for moveable barriers.
  • The case for integrating urban traffic control and parking
    February 3, 2012
    Although urban traffic control and parking management are inextricably linked in so many ways, there remain fundamental differences which undermine closer integration. Car parking guidance systems can have a significant, positive impact on congestion in town and city centres, however conflicting business models still stand in the way of the more profound integration of car parking management and Urban Traffic Control (UTC) systems.