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

  • Ground control to mining truck offers efficiency gains
    June 19, 2015
    Autonomous and remote control machines are not about to take over the world, but they can provide efficiency gains and savings in some operations – Colin Sowman writes The thought of autonomous machines may conjure up visions of an Orwellian future where society works for the ‘common good’ defined by an all-powerful being and in which people are insignificant in terms of their needs, aspirations and physical wellbeing; of machines that relentlessly carry out their task regardless of anybody or anything that
  • IBM and EKZ exploring balanced EV charging
    April 26, 2012
    IBM Research has teamed with EKZ, the electricity utility provider of the Canton of Zurich in Switzerland, on a new pilot project that will allow consumers to conveniently charge electric vehicles and monitor their energy costs, using mobile devices. This near real-time information will also help utility providers better manage power grid loads during peak charging times, a challenge that is set to grow as more electric vehicles are on the road. The pilot is using onboard devices fitted in several vehicl
  • State-of-the art road tunnels in construction and use of ITS
    April 25, 2013
    A wealth of major road tunnel construction projects and significant cant ITS installations within existing key road tunnels have been recently completed or will soon be underway. Guy Woodford examines some of them. A state-of-the art Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) - the 10th largest ever to be built worldwide will be put to work later this year on New Zealand Transport Agency’s landmark Waterview Connection project in Auckland. The giant Herrenknecht-manufactured machine will be used to construct the twin 2.5
  • Germany builds its first major PPI autobahn project
    July 7, 2015
    Rebuilding of one of the oldest motorways in Germany is testing out the possibilities for public-private project road construction reports Adrian Greeman A freshly renovated section of the A8 Autobahn in southern Germany will be watched with some interest this summer as traffic begins driving along its rebuilt carriageway and additional third lanes. That is not because of any special road features, other than a distinctive reddish colour to its concrete surface, but because it is a first fullscale public