An innovative system that has been designed to reduce the disruptions caused by installation and maintenance works will be showcased to delegates at the UK’s largest traffic signal conference this week.
One of the UK’s leading mission-critical network systems providers, Telent Technology Services, will join hundreds of engineers, manufacturers and suppliers at the 23rd JCT Traffic Signal Symposium and Exhibition, which is taking place at the Nottingham Conference Center on September 12-13.
The company will be exhibiting its innovative Plug and Play traffic signal system that has been designed for installation with minimal disruption to road users. Developed in conjunction with Transport for London’s (TfL) innovation program, Telent’s Plug and Play system drastically reduces time spent on essential traffic signal installation works, minimizing disruption to local residents and road users. The system is now available to other organizations responsible for transport networks across the UK.
The Plug and Play system involves pre-built poles and signal heads, pre-wired and commissioned controllers, and low-level access points to allow for a four-pole pedestrian crossing to be installed on-site in less than four hours, and a four-pole traffic intersection deployment time reduced to one day from the usual four to five days.
The configuration of the system has been developed to work with 25-core SY cable, which allows the unit to be built with a single cable to each pole. The flexibility of the cable adds to the ease of installation on-site where an existing duct system is used. The cable runs are pre-measured at the site in advance, so the cables can be pre-made to the location-specific lengths. This removes the requirement to have large cable drums on-site during the installation process.
Through detailed planning, commissioning of equipment to be used in the build ahead of installation, and pre-installation testing, time on-site can be drastically reduced, minimizing the time required for lane rental and traffic management, offering an additional benefit for local authorities and taxpayers. The key benefits of the Plug and Play system include:
• Reduced disruption to the general public and local communities;
• Reduced lane rental charges;
• Reduced traffic congestion helping to limit increased fuel consumption and CO₂ emissions;
• Pre-wired controller accepting IP68 rated plugs and sockets positioned to prevent water damage reducing failure times;
• All equipment tested and pre-commissioned prior to installation.
“We are all for creating safer and smarter roads for people living in Britain, and what better place to showcase our traffic signal installation system than the JCT Traffic Signal Symposium & Exhibition,” commented Stuart Deakin, Telent’s special projects manager.
“Through effective measurement, commissioning of equipment built ahead of installation, and pre-installation testing, Plug and Play delivers upgraded traffic signals and pedestrian crossings in significantly reduced timescales, from weeks to just days. Not only does this benefit residents, but local authorities and taxpayers too.”
