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

  • Asphalt milling optimised by 3D controls
    February 20, 2012
    3D machine controls can optimise milling efficiency, Mike Woof reports. More efficient milling and recycling operations can be carried out by using the latest 3D control systems on the market. At the last Trimble Dimensions event in Las Vegas, the advantages of 3D controls for milling operations proved a key topic. The use of 3D control systems can offer huge advantages in milling operations. This technology helps increase productivity as the milling machine will only remove what is required, which also hel
  • Innovation in road design and management software
    February 17, 2012
    The emphasis on data processing and re-use, continues to grow in the development of design and management software. The interoperability of software, the need to handle and process larger amounts of data, and re-use and retention of data sets from one task to another have been a growing emphasis in the past few years. It allows infrastructure companies to get better value from expensively collected information and to focus more on the whole life cycle of projects.
  • Success of toll road operators' conference
    July 12, 2012
    The 37th ASECAP Annual Study and Information Days held in Krakow, Poland, gathered some 300 road transport CEOs, experts and government decision-makers making the event "a huge success." Patrick Smith reports Toll road operators from across Europe have met to discuss the state of their businesses in the current economic climate and how to tackle it. Fabrizio Palenzona, the outgoing President of ASECAP (the European professional Association of Operators of Toll Road Infrastructures) and president of AISCAT (
  • Cell phone question for US
    April 24, 2012
    US states are being urged by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) to ban drivers from using mobile phones and other electronic devices.