Skip to main content

Technology trial a first for roads scheme

A US$124.8 million (£88.4 million) project to upgrade access to one of the UK’s busiest ports is trialling the use of technology to improve the monitoring of highway equipment located along the road, such as street lighting and drainage, to aid future maintenance. Contractors working on the A160 Port of Immingham improvement scheme are using the RedBite asset tool, developed by a Cambridge-based company, to tag Highways England owned assets. RedBite is a spin-out from the University of Cambridge and a m
April 7, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
A US$124.8 million (£88.4 million) project to upgrade access to one of the UK’s busiest ports is trialling the use of technology to improve the monitoring of highway equipment located along the road, such as street lighting and drainage, to aid future maintenance.

Contractors working on the A160 Port of Immingham improvement scheme are using the RedBite asset tool, developed by a Cambridge-based company, to tag 8101 Highways England owned assets. RedBite is a spin-out from the University of Cambridge and a member of the HyperCat Consortium. The technology uses radio frequency identification (RFID) technology, Quick Response (QR) Codes and GPS tags.

Once the product is tagged, the data is securely transmitted to a webpage where all data relating to that piece of equipment or asset is recorded for future use.

This is said to be the first time the technology has been used on a road project.  Items which have been tagged so far along the A160 include lighting columns, signs, pavements, culverts and gullies.

The Port of Immingham is the UK’s largest port by tonnage and handles up to 55 million tonnes of goods every year, including nearly 20 million tonnes of oil and 10 million tonnes of coal.

The scheme will see a three-mile section of the A160 between the A180 and the Port of Immingham upgraded to a dual carriageway along its entire length.

Once completed, traffic congestion should be reduced, journey times become more reliable, and safety improved for road users and the local community. There will also be improved access to the Port of Immingham and the surrounding area.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Cumbria to receive further funding to repair flood damage
    August 9, 2013
    Roads in Cumbria damaged by devastating flooding in 2009 are to be repaired thanks to government funding. Cumbria County Council is set to receive a further US$9.6 million to allow repairs to be carried out to highway slopes, enhanced drainage, culvert repairs and repairs to footways and bridges, transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin has announced. McLoughlin continued: “Reliable local highways are crucial to communities and provides important links for people to work, shops, services, families and friend
  • Florida's free flow tolling eases congestion, improves safety
    July 24, 2012
    A decade since Florida's Turnpike Enterprise first deployed electronic toll collection, the organisation's Director of Toll Operations Rick Nelson and Tom S. Knuckey of PBS&J look at progress. A decade on from the deployment of Florida's Turnpike Enterprise's state-wide SunPass pre-paid Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) programme, transponder sales have ballooned from 5,000 to more than 4,000,000. Over 70 per cent of the state's turnpike drivers participate in the system and transponder sales continue to gro
  • Assessing the potential of in-vehicle enforcement systems
    December 4, 2012
    Jason Barnes considers the social and ethical ramifications of using in-vehicle safety technologies to fulfil enforcement functions. Although policy documents often imply close correlation between enforcement, compliance and safety – in part, as a counter to accusations that enforcement is rather more concerned with revenue generation – there is a noticeable reluctance among policy makers and auto manufacturers to exploit in-vehicle safety systems for enforcement applications. From a technical perspective t
  • Kapsch tunnels into US and Brazil
    April 21, 2025
    Projects in Florianópolis & Fort Lauderdale completed - and Hawaii awarded