Safe Tcone trials
A new machine to lay cones automatically not only reduces the length of time it takes to set out and remove road traffic management systems, but it also offers significant safety benefits.
An initial trial of a prototype took place in the summer of 2006 and it is expected that the first operational machine will begin work in spring 2007 with Balfour Beatty Infrastructure Services which is responsible for road maintenance on behalf of the Highways Agency.
John Findlay, director at Infrastructure Services says: "We had been considering automated cone laying and retrieval for some years, but when award-winning inventor Brian Flynn approached us with an experimental machine, we could see it had enormous potential. The translation from inventive idea to operating model has only taken place because of our faith and support throughout its development."
The first production machine will store some 900 cones in stacks of 30 cones meaning considerable saving on manual handling and safety benefits for production staff.
Once trials have been completed the first machine will be used on the maintenance contract in Hampshire, Surrey, Berkshire and Wiltshire with the second one deployed on strategic roads around Bristol and the surrounding counties.