Skip to main content

Road signs in a flap

The Danish Road Directorate and Daluiso have developed a new type of road sign to make road works and maintenance tasks more efficient. Called 'swap signs', their function is to flap open/shut near road works, spring cleaning or grass cutting by contractors.
July 25, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
The 1845 Danish Road Directorate and Daluiso have developed a new type of road sign to make road works and maintenance tasks more efficient. Called 'swap signs', their function is to flap open/shut near road works, spring cleaning or grass cutting by contractors.

Importantly, the smart thing about these signs is that they are put in place, on the hard shoulder and central reservation, in the small hours when there is least traffic on the roads. They are deployed in neutral mode (grey background) and therefore no information is seen by the road user until work actually gets under way.

When the contractor arrives, the signs are activated by an internet-based system using a laptop. Only signs covering the area actually being worked on need be activated and, as the work progresses along the roadway, these swap signs can be flapped open and closed as need be.

As Daluiso points out, up to an hour of working time can be used by a contractor just setting up conventional signs. With swap signs, contractors can start work as soon as they reach the working area.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Authorities look to MaaS for new solutions and cost savings
    July 18, 2017
    The structure of society and the way in which our cities work will be completely transformed by Mobility as a Service (MaaS), Finland’s minister of transport and communications Anne Berner, told ITS International’s recent MaaS Market conference 2017 in London. In her keynote address, Berner told a packed audience of more than 200 ITS professionals that MaaS has the potential to help governments around the world meet their big city targets such as the rate of employment, the environment, the efficient use of
  • 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
  • Investing in ITS: Show us the money
    April 8, 2022
    The ITS industry is currently attracting a lot of interest from private equity and venture capital providers. Adam Hill asks some of the people who have their eyes on the market what makes it such a good bet
  • Parifex speed cameras: picture perfect
    September 30, 2020
    From speed cameras to smart cities, image processing and AI – Parifex is not short of ambition. Nathalie Deguen tells Adam Hill where the French company is heading next