Downer Group pioneers incident management via fibre cable

Downer Group has formed a partnership with Future Fibre Technologies (FFT) to offer a monitoring tool for the detection of incidents on roads, rail lines, bridges, tunnels and more.
October 11, 2016 Read time: 1 min

7203 Downer Group has formed a partnership with Future Fibre Technologies (FFT) to offer a monitoring tool for the detection of incidents on roads, rail lines, bridges, tunnels and more.

Utilising new or existing fibre deployments along a road or rail line, the system can monitor for incidents, detected by vibrations transmitted via the fibre optic cable. Control centres can be alerted in real time to an incident and location to accuracies within 6-10m, saving valuable time for emergency crews.

Vibration variations are compared with a library of normal background signals to categorise incidents.

Advanced artificial intelligence technology uses behaviour and signature recognition, and signal processing software, to identify the difference between a background event such as rain and an actual incident, reducing the frequency of nuisance alarms.

“No one is using fibre in this way to detect traffic incidents anywhere in the world,” said Jeff Sharp, group manager, technology and innovation, Downer Group.

These otherwise barely detectable vibrations monitored through the fibre cables can also be used to measure traffic speed and track traffic movement.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Qatar invests $70 billion to pave the way to world beating transportation
    July 26, 2013
    Eng. Zeina Nazer looks at what Qatar’s recently-announced investment in transport infrastructure will mean on the ground. Qatar is experiencing a rapid economic and industrial growth. This growth is characterised by a rapid population increase and by the urgent need towards the development of both infrastructure projects and major transport projects. In order to handle this rate of development within Qatar, Public Works Authority (Ashghal) is developing a fully-integrated multimodal transportation system in
    Read More
  • GridMatrix maximises power of existing infrastructure
    August 5, 2023

    GridMatrix’s breakthrough software platform for multimodal data collection and analytics is revolutionising transportation planning and decision making across the US. 

    Powered by artificial intelligence and combining the latest advances in cloud computing, machine learning and advanced sensing, GridMatrix’s platform is deployed in New York City on the world’s busiest bridges and tunnels, trusted by multiple state departments of transportation, and in a fast-growing number of American towns and cities. 

    Read More
  • Citilog’s ADL is the key to scalable traffic safety improvements
    April 11, 2023
    Forward-thinking cities around the world are using artificial intelligence (AI) in traffic management to improve safety and reduce congestion. The biggest challenge with most AI technologies is that they cannot match the keen eye and cognition of human traffic professionals, leading to false positives and distracting from actual roadway calamities.
    Read More
  • Sony’s vision systems help limit risk in road tunnels
    November 10, 2017
    Sony’s Stephane Clauss looks at the imaging requirements in tunnels. In the event of a fire inside a tunnel, the dispersion of gases and heat is prevented, creating extreme temperatures that have led to many deaths. Following tragic incidents including Mont Blanc, European legislation requires longer tunnels to be fitted with incident and smoke detection systems.
    Read More

Highlighted Content