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

  • Apps for all in Louisiana
    May 20, 2020
    Jason Barnes* looks at how a system of engagement (SoE) from software specialist Esri helped the US state of Louisiana’s transportation department create user-friendly apps
  • Doka feels the heat in Qatar orbital highway project
    September 19, 2019
    The FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar is getting closer so completing major infrastructure projects on time has been a priority for the government. The Gulf state is also in the midst of its Qatar National Vision 2030, launched in 2008 with the aim to "transform Qatar into an advanced society capable of achieving sustainable development" by 2030. Improving infrastructure will help the country of just under 3 million people attain greater social and economic levels, according to the government. Finishing critic
  • Smartphone solutions assure paving quality at a lofty height
    April 1, 2022
    Road construction project with digital documentation and temperature monitoring by Vögele
  • Quantm is making Trimble one of the world’s leading BIM market challengers
    December 19, 2016
    When Trimble first launched its Quantm software system a decade or so ago, the company was making an important step into end-to-end BIM modelling. The rules of the game were changing fast. Adrian Greeman reports When survey and machine control equipment maker Trimble bought the Australian road planning software system Quantm in 2006 it might not have realised quite what it was leading to. A decade later, Quantm is helping to put Trimble among the big players in the BIM (building information modelling) en