Radar for incident and event detection in tunnels

Date: 4/2/2010

Source: ‘AIDs: the remedy’, Safety and Security for Road Infrastructure, November/December 2009, pg. 30-31

The Highways Agency appointed Atkins to conduct a trial of Navtech Radar’s Clearway TS 350-X detection system. The trial was aimed at testing the effectiveness of radar technology within a tunnel environment, especially its capability of detecting slow-moving or stationary objects. The project was carried out over several months and involved artificial generation of incidents as well as real time running. The results showed that a radar system effectively and consistently detects vehicles, pedestrians and debris in a two lane tunnel bore, with a detection range covering the entire width of the carriageway. The false alarm rate was one per 24 hours for the whole system, which was recognised as an acceptably low level, and this was achieved with minimal adjustment to the initial installation.

Keywords: Incident, Monitoring