Highways England trials electric roadworks vehicles

Highways England is trialling two electric powered roadworks vehicles with the aim of improving air quality along motorways and major A roads. One vehicle is being used across the East Midlands and the other on a major scheme on the A14 in the east of England. Martin Bolt, Highways England’s corporate group leader, operations directorate (Midlands) says: “We are actively exploring opportunities to improve air quality for those travelling on, or living near, our roads as well as reduce exposure for road wo
July 2, 2019 Read time: 2 mins

8101 Highways England is trialling two electric powered roadworks vehicles with the aim of improving air quality along motorways and major A roads.

One vehicle is being used across the East Midlands and the other on a major scheme on the A14 in the east of England.

Martin Bolt, Highways England’s corporate group leader, operations directorate (Midlands) says: “We are actively exploring opportunities to improve air quality for those travelling on, or living near, our roads as well as reduce exposure for road workers. These vehicles help with that and also reduce noise for nearby residents.”

Further measures include the installation of a barrier alongside the M1 in South Yorkshire to help improve air quality for the local community and the deployment of electric charge points on or near the motorway network.

The five-month project is being funded by Highways England’s £75 million allocation for air quality improvements.

Highways England is now working with H W Martin (Traffic Management) to trial both vehicles in tasks such as traffic management, maintenance operations and the installation and removal of lane closures for construction work. Experts from the University of Bath will collect and analyse data to determine for which tasks the vehicles are best suited.

Ryan Wood, technical manager for H W Martin, says: “Undertaking these trials will allow us to understand first-hand how the vehicles perform while carrying out different tasks and how current charging infrastructure provides a network for their use.”

The trial will be followed by a post-trial report, the results of which are expected to inform future work around assessing how charging infrastructure is deployed for major projects and looking at the future potential for using electric roadworks vehicles.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • University of Birmingham’s sensor wins Intelligent Infrastructure Challenge
    November 24, 2017
    University of Birmingham’s road surface temperature sensor which uses infrared thermometry will be adopted on the UK’s road and motorway network following a national award at the Highways UK Intelligent Infrastructure Challenge 2017. The judges at the ceremony believe that deploying the sensor network could have an immediate impact on their ability to better control gritting routines in winter. Developed by Lee Chapman, professor of Climate Resilience at the University, the Wintersense sensors are
    Read More
  • EastLink trials hands-free driving through its tunnels
    December 4, 2017
    EastLink (EL) has conducted a hands-free driving demonstration through its freeway tunnels using Honda Civic VTi-LX’s lane keep assist function. The trial, closed to traffic, aimed to help Victorian motorists understand the technology and other driver assistance functions after the Annual Victorian Self-Driving Survey revealed more than half of the 15,000 of the respondents had very little or no awareness of self-driving cars.
    Read More
  • Mott Macdonald to develop Highways England’s Operations Centre
    January 17, 2018
    Mott Macdonald (MM) has been selected to deliver an intelligent asset monitoring and management system to support the development of Highways England’s (HE’s) technology operations Centre. The project intends to provide a more efficient system of electronic traffic management, enabling HE to centralise operational decision-making, providing data that informs demand models, predicts future needs and identifies areas for investment. As part of the Technology Operations Centre contract (T TOC), Fujitsu will
    Read More
  • Highways England to deploy three HGV cabs to tackle unsafe driving
    February 13, 2018
    Highways England (HE) and Dawson Rentals have entered a partnership to deploy three unmarked HGV cabs that will patrol motorways and main trunk roads after one was used by Police to help catch over 4,000 dangerous drivers in its first two years. The vehicles come with wide angle cameras which are designed with the intention of capturing unsafe driving behaviour. These cabs allow police officers to film evidence of dangerous driving by pulling up alongside vehicles, whose drivers are then pulled over by
    Read More

Highlighted Content