Self-driving plant to be standard for road works by 2035

Self-driving plant looks likely to be standard for road works by 2035.
By MJ Woof June 16, 2020 Read time: 2 mins
Automated machines could be in common use for road construction by 2035 – image © courtesy Mike Woof

Highways England is introducing a 15-year plan for a digital revolution in the road construction industry. One of the key changes will be the use of driver-less machines on site. According to Highways England, this could boost productivity by £400 billion while lowering the numbers of deaths and injuries onsite.

Connected and autonomous plant (CAP) has already been used on the A14 improvement project where automated dump trucks were trialled.

Highways England is joining forces with TRL and the Infrastructure Industry Innovation Partnership (i3P) to develop plans for the use of CAP techniques to become standard industry practice by 2035.

According to Highways England, adoption of this technology across the construction sector could reduce site fatalities by 37% and improve productivity by up to £400 billion by 2040. In addition, the technology could deliver annual savings of £53 billion across new construction work. Highways England also says that the technology could  assist with 47% of construction activities currently performed.

Mark Thurston, CEO of HS2 said: “This work charts an extremely exciting and potentially game changing route as to how we operate our sites as we build Britain.

“My challenge to our industry is to take the steps we can take today to improve our future, moving forwards together to make our people more efficient, and safer than ever.”

Asphalt milling, paving & compaction

Related Content

  • Connected vehicles: implications for road networks and mobility
    May 15, 2019
    Mobility services are expected to undergo spectacular changes within the next two decades with the introduction and widespread use of connected and autonomous vehicle (CAV) technology. However, the transition phase from human driving to self-driving will be gradual, requiring incremental interventions on the physical and digital road network to allow it to cope with mixed vehicular traffic. Cities such as Dubai have embraced the challenge by setting a target to reach 25% driverless trips by 2030 as part o
    Read More
  • Turning the construction industry green
    May 12, 2023
    Green is good for industry – delivering sustainability can also help reduce costs for construction firms, ensuring better financial performance
    Read More
  • Topcon: A revolution in construction technology’s coming
    July 7, 2021
    The construction equipment industry is at a turning point. Topcon’s senior leaders believe that we are about to see a huge surge in the adoption of new construction technologies. The time is ripe as a new, younger and more tech-savvy generation comes to the fore. Governments could save billions, and where does the smartphone fit in?
    Read More
  • Philipp Swarovski lays down the marker
    June 10, 2019
    Swarco’s chief operating officer Philipp Swarovski shares his thoughts on highway safety and infrastructure in an age of uncertain future needs. David Arminas reports It was in Austria in 1969 when Manfred Swarovski opened his first glass bead factory. Five years later, operations started in the US. As the years rolled by there followed acquisitions and expansion of manufacturing facilities as well as a shift into intelligent transportation systems globally. Fast forward to 2019 and the family compan
    Read More

Highlighted Content