GridKey system trialled on Midland motorways

Highways England are trialling a brand new motorway lighting monitoring system called the GridKey system, which should detect faults in cabling networks for motorway lights and then also dramatically reduce the amount of time and energy wasted on inspections.

To go into more detail, the GridKey system will be implemented and trialled over the course of 12 months in the Midlands, with this trial involving the installation of 60 monitoring units by the highways management branch of the Kier Group.

This initial trial will form the first stage of a much wider trial programme, the second stage of which will involve the installation of 400 GridKey monitoring units, with the units themselves being installed in a variety of lighting networks for rural to urban, large networks and small, new networks and old.

Installation of this monitoring system by Highways England has been funded through a £2.6M investment which was taken from their £150M fund for innovative projects.

The Highways England Supplier Relationships Manager, Lisa Maric stated: “This continuous monitoring will bring large operational cost savings by reducing the need for frequent testing and inspections which could lead to fewer lane closures affecting drivers’ journeys.

“We will be able to identify faults more quickly and resolve the issue straight away or continuously monitor the situation.

“It will also improve safety by minimising the need to have our workforce out on the road – safety is always our number one priority.”

The Kier Electrical and Compliance Manager, Mick Leech added: “This project will reduce the amount of time that operations are required on the highway and the need to work at height and increases road space availability.

“The outcomes from the data collected will allow for a strategic approach to end of life replacement of the power cable Infrastructure in a planned manner thus reducing interruptions on the network.”

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