Skip to main content

Cornwall leads the way in weather monitoring

Vaisala has recently completed the first full-scale installation of 12 next generation RWS200 road weather stations for Cornwall County Council in the UK. The system, including Vaisala’s RoadDSS information services, is now fully operational, just in time for winter driving conditions. The Council decided to invest in the latest road weather sensing technology to enhance the winter service of the county’s highways. Vaisala weather stations are designed to provide highly accurate information for road ma
November 5, 2014 Read time: 2 mins
144 Vaisala has recently completed the first full-scale installation of 12 next generation RWS200 road weather stations for Cornwall County Council in the UK. The system, including Vaisala’s RoadDSS information services, is now fully operational, just in time for winter driving conditions.
 
The Council decided to invest in the latest road weather sensing technology to enhance the winter service of the county’s highways. Vaisala weather stations are designed to provide highly accurate information for road managers, and include a range of sophisticated devices that report road conditions at regular intervals throughout the day and night.
 
The RWS200 utilises state-of-the-art sensors that are accurate and reliable in the most demanding weather conditions.  When combined with sophisticated RoadDSS decision support software, it forms an intelligent road weather information system called iRWIS. Advanced algorithms collect raw data from the pavement sensor and, by using other atmospheric information, can create better calculations of surface conditions, helping to improve decision-making and reduce costs, while offering greater operational efficiency.
 
Lydia Hewitt, ITC operations officer for Cornwall Council, said of the installation "In these challenging times of austerity this is a very exciting project for Cornwall. We are very pleased to be working with Vaisala on such a project. The new stations provide accurate information allowing for enhanced decisions for salting to be made. This is a capital investment that will deliver revenue savings in both equipment maintenance and road salting."
 
Antero Järvinen, director for Vaisala's Road and Rail Business said, "We are excited about the opportunity to partner with Cornwall in developing a world class road maintenance program. With the Vaisala iRWIS system Cornwall now have a seamlessly integrated and the most comprehensive road weather solution in the industry."

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Camera technology a flexible and cost-effective option
    June 7, 2012
    Perceptions of machine vision being an expensive solution are being challenged by developments in both core technologies and ancillaries. Here, Jason Barnes and David Crawford look at the latest developments in the sector. A notable aspect of machine vision is the flexibility it offers in terms of how and how much data is passed around a network. With smart cameras, processing capabilities at the front end mean that only that which is valid need be communicated back to a central processor of any descripti
  • Reducing detection costs benefits intersection management
    February 3, 2012
    The continuing, favourable performance-versus-cost situation concerning detection and monitoring technologies is driving the proliferation of intelligence across road networks. The effective and safe management of intersections is a focus for network operators and systems manufacturers alike. The most complicated of road environments, and statistically among the least safe, intersections enjoy particular emphasis in longer-term work on cooperative infrastructure solutions. However there are current developm
  • BlipTrack monitoring in New Zealand
    January 24, 2013
    Danish wireless technology company Blip systems has supplied engineering and technology services provider Beca with its BlipTrack Bluetooth traffic monitoring system, which has been deployed in Waikato, New Zealand. The Te Rapa Bypass project is the first of a planned US$2 billion investment by the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) in the Waikato region’s transportation network over the next eight years. The BlipTrack solution has been established in advance of these projects and will continue to assess
  • Transportation hub the centre of sustainable urban development
    November 21, 2012
    A marriage of transit, technology and culture is taking shape in Minneapolis, with ITS systems vital to hopes for a sustainable development centred on a hub of public transportation. Construction started in July this year on ‘The Interchange’ – a station in the Midwest US city of Minneapolis claimed as the most spectacular expression yet of the fast-spreading North American concept of transit-oriented development (TOD). Due for completion in 2014, the Interchange is designed as a multi-modal public transpor