Skip to main content

MARS marches on in safety

A new automatic cone laying and removal system, designed to provide total safety for highways operatives, has successfully undergone testing in Switzerland. The advanced Mobile Automatic Roadblock System (MARS), developed by Dutch designers and manufacturers, Traf-IQ, has been operated during highways maintenance work on Amsterdam's A9 and A10 motorways. MARS automatically places a rumble strip, a light arrow and an attenuator as well as the miles of cones, and then automatically, safely and efficiently rem
February 10, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
The MARS system from Traf-IQ avoids the need for any manual laying or retrieval of traffic cones and other road management materials
A new automatic cone laying and removal system, designed to provide total safety for highways operatives, has successfully undergone testing in Switzerland.

The advanced Mobile Automatic Roadblock System (MARS), developed by Dutch designers and manufacturers, 2564 Traf-IQ, has been operated during highways maintenance work on Amsterdam's A9 and A10 motorways.

MARS automatically places a rumble strip, a light arrow and an attenuator as well as the miles of cones, and then automatically, safely and efficiently removes them.

According to Peter van Nes of Traf-IQ, the Swiss Bauamt für Straßen (Building Authority for Roads) and various Kantons are, for safety reasons, willing to forbid the manual neutralisation of traffic lanes, especially since the MARS proved able to do the job automatically, safely and reliably.

"The Zürich Kanton has profoundly tested the system on its network around Zürich, on highways and in tunnels, always with good results. We are actually in the process of building a smaller version of MARS to fit their slightly smaller lanes" he said.

"National Swiss television followed all of it while making the documentary, which was aired as part of a programme called Einstein. Soon the MARS will become part of the Swiss scenery." In contrast to the smaller model, Traf-IQ is to build a bigger version of MARS, which contains approximately 500 cones, allowing fast lane closures in lengthy tunnels, while also developing a demountable automatic rumble mat-laying device so that users do not have to get out in live traffic to lay down rumble strips.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Engineering elegance in bridge design
    July 9, 2012
    Multi-award-winning bridge designer Michel Virlogeux was the keynote speaker at the recent Austroads Bridge conference, held in Auckland, New Zealand, last month. He had a simple message: Bridge design is the realm of the engineer and should not be given to architects. "Bridge architecture, bridge aesthetics, bridge elegance is the problem of engineers. We must not leave this major part of our job to architects," he said. "I always work with an architect, but the architect is not selecting the structure. To
  • MTG launches digital safety system 
    October 28, 2022
    After five years of intense development and successful field tests in Europe and Australia, MTG is launching the GET Detection series of safety products and services.
  • Excavation offering
    July 16, 2012
    There are various ways of building a tunnel, and for excavation jobs many contractors prefer to use versions of standard machines that have instead been converted to suit the confines of tunnelling applications. Some contractors opt to adapt their own units and with ventilation being an issue in underground work, engine emissions are a key focus when adapting machines. Exhaust filters and other after treatment solutions are usually required and there are an array of off-the-shelf packages available as well
  • CRCP is first choice for Belgian highway
    November 28, 2012
    Dan Gilkes reports on a Belgian highway upgrade When the Ministry of Public Works in the Belgian State of Flanders decided to reconstruct and resurface 19km of the N49 Antwerp-Knokke Expressway, continuously reinforced concrete paving (CRCP) with an exposed aggregate surface was the natural material choice. Indeed exposed aggregate, with its high grip and low noise benefits, has been the first option for all motorway surfacing work in Belgium since the 1980s. However, the €15.65 million contract is not a li