Skip to main content

Communications systems key to tunnel safety

Paul Ducker Systems (PDS), a sub-contractor to Balfour Beatty Engineering Services, has appointed Team Simoco to provide communication systems for the new A3 Hindhead road tunnel and the refurbishment of the A1 Hatfield road tunnel. Specialising in supplying transportation infrastructure for tunnels and road networks, PDS also provides solutions to metro, rail and airport operators, and the Hindhead and Hatfield road tunnels, near London, are the latest contracts to be won by the company. PDS has selecte
May 15, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
Hindhead road tunnel.
Paul Ducker Systems (PDS), a sub-contractor to 1146 Balfour Beatty Engineering Services, has appointed Team Simoco to provide communication systems for the new A3 Hindhead road tunnel and the refurbishment of the A1 Hatfield road tunnel.

Specialising in supplying transportation infrastructure for tunnels and road networks, PDS also provides solutions to metro, rail and airport operators, and the Hindhead and Hatfield road tunnels, near London, are the latest contracts to be won by the company.

PDS has selected Team Simoco to design and implement an extensive communication system for the tunnels, with each requiring GSM mobile, Airwave, fireground, DAB, voice-break in and a dedicated PMR radio system.
Chief executive of Team Simoco, Ian Carr, says: “Both the Hindhead and Hatfield road tunnels are designed to offer vehicles more convenient and quicker journeys, but due to the high volumes of traffic that travel along these routes, it is imperative that the communication systems in place offer reliable and uninterruptable access in case of accidents or fires.

“Team Simoco has extensive experience of confined space radio engineering, leaky feeder technology and the specific signal propagation challenges of combining multiple radio services in enclosed environments such as tunnels. This expertise enabled us to work with PDS to design the best operational solution for the Hindhead and Hatfield tunnels.”

Located in County Surrey, between London and Portsmouth, the Hindhead twin-bore road tunnel is designed to remove traffic congestion from the A3 and the local road network. Work began on the project in 2007 and the tunnel is scheduled to open to traffic in summer 2011. The Hatfield road tunnel in Hertfordshire is also due to be reopened to traffic in the summer of 2011.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Balfour Beatty wins Midlands road technology maintenance package
    April 23, 2014
    Balfour Beatty has secured its third Regional Technology Maintenance Contract (RTMC) from the Highways Agency. This deal is worth some €10.56 million (£8.7 million) over five years. The package involves maintaining around 28,000 technology assets on behalf of the Highways Agency and will cover both the Highways Agency’s Area 7 (the East Midlands) and Area 9 (the West Midlands). The technology service provided by Balfour Beatty includes responsibility for managing and maintaining road-side technology systems
  • TRL and Experion develop Indian joint venture
    August 3, 2022
    TRL Software and Experion Technologies are establishing an Indian joint venture.
  • FEHRL holds successful infrastructure research event in Brussels
    June 22, 2015
    FEHRL recently held the FIRM15 event in Brussels, focussing on innovative maintenance of transport infrastructure In all some 110 transport infrastructure research experts from Europe and beyond met for the 2015 FEHRL Infrastructure Research Meeting (FIRM15) at the Diamant Centre in Brussels, Belgium. These professionals discussed the overall theme of 'Innovative maintenance of transport infrastructure: Faster, cheaper, more reliable, safer and greener'. Throughout the two-day conference, several solution
  • Tyne tunnel's water quality checks
    February 6, 2012
    Five buoy-mounted automatic water quality monitors (AWQMs) have been installed by YSI Hydrodata engineers at the new Tyne Tunnel project in north-east England. The equipment on the second vehicle tunnel under the River Tyne, currently one of the UK's largest construction projects, aims to ensure that construction operations do not significantly affect river water quality. Unusually, the contractors have not taken ownership of the instrumentation, preferring instead to simply purchase the data and alarms. Th