Skip to main content

Advance warning of high water with Tapco’s BlinkerSign

Tapco’s BlinkerSign LED-enhanced solar traffic signs provide notification and awareness of closed roads, evacuation routes or dangerous driving conditions due to inclement weather.
November 4, 2016 Read time: 1 min

989 Tapco’s BlinkerSign LED-enhanced solar traffic signs provide notification and awareness of closed roads, evacuation routes or dangerous driving conditions due to inclement weather.

A kerb or pole-mounted fibre optic sensor detects rising water levels and triggers the sign when water rises to a pre-determined level, providing drivers with advance warning to take an alternative route.

Each MUTCD-compliant BlinkerSign is built to weather harsh or emergency conditions, operates in fresh or salt water and is suitable for use in  frequently flooded areas, tidal zones, underpasses and hurricane zones, while its off-grid solar power system makes it suitable for use during power outages.

The signs, which are visible day and night for around two miles, can be deployed or taken down in minutes and can be activated onsite, either wirelessly with short or long range radios or optionally web connected - allowing system monitoring and alerts during active flooding.

Related Content

  • January 20, 2012
    Pioneering sensors collect weather data from moving vehicles
    ITS International contributing editor David Crawford foresees the vehicle as 'sentinel being'
  • September 6, 2017
    Options abound for road weather sensing
    Meteorological organisations invest millions in super-computers to crunch data for ever-more accurate forecasts but inherent unpredictability means that other methods of alerting drivers and road authorities to fast-changing weather and highway conditions are essential. For years, static weather sensors to measure factors such as surface water, ice or high roadway temperatures have been embedded in highways to provide such data. But that is changing.
  • January 31, 2012
    Solar-powered traffic detection improves communication
    Pete Goldin reports on a new wireless, solar-powered traffic detection system being used by Caltrans District 12. As more and more traffic data is necessary to satisfy the needs of traffic management centres and traveller information systems, and as traffic detection technology becomes more ubiquitous, transportation authorities are pressured to find more economical ways of expanding their detection systems. Caltrans District 12 is leading this push by deploying the latest detection system from Case Global
  • June 29, 2018
    Avoiding the call of the wild
    Hitting an animal on a rural road can be fatal for all parties involved – but detecting and avoiding them requires clever technology. Andrew Williams carefully scans the horizon for details. Wildlife-vehicle collisions are an ever-present threat in rural areas around the world, and there is certainly nothing funny about suddenly finding an angry moose in your headlights on a sharp bend. A variety of detection and avoidance systems are currently in use or under development to help prevent your vehicle being