The Victorian Government’s Eastern Freeway Upgrades project is the first in Australia to use an automated cone truck to improve safety for road workers.
Developed by Brisbane-based company Arrowes Roading Safety, the Automated Cone Truck (ATC) places and retrieves traffic cones automatically without the need for road workers to manually place and remove the cones.
Eastern Freeway Upgrades Safety Manager, Stuart Dangerfield, said the Automated Cone Truck eliminates the risk of harm to road workers who usually either perform this task on foot or standing in a pod on the side of a vehicle.
“The safety of our people and the community is at the forefront of everything we do, so we were excited to be the first to trial the ACT three years ago,” Mr Dangerfield said.
“Since this initial trial we’ve seen the innovation refined and improved, which has resulted in safer and efficient use of this technology on the Eastern Freeway Upgrade from Burke Road to Tram Road.”
The 12-month implementation on the Eastern Freeway Upgrades was a collaboration between Arrowes Roading Safety, the Eastern Freeway Upgrades – Burke to Tram Alliance, Major Road Projects Victoria (MRPV) and KPI Construction Services.
It can also place at intervals of 12 to 24m while travelling at speeds of up to 16 km/h.
“We know manually deploying and collecting cones can expose our crews to some of the highest risk zones on a road worksite. Using the ACT on our Easter Freeway Upgrades has further reduced the need for workers to interact with live traffic conditions,” Mr Dangerfield said.
“Innovations like the automated cone truck will go a long way towards keeping our workers safe.”
The integration of the ACT has been a pivotal asset over the past year, deploying and collecting traffic cones on 188 occasions across 564km of lane closures.
The ACT placed and collected 65,000 cones, eliminating the need for over 1200 tonnes of manual handling and reducing worker exposure to live traffic by approximately 500 hours.
The ACT was initially trialled in 2021 as part of the M80 upgrade between Sydney Road and Edgars Road.
It has also won the Victorian Major Transport Infrastructure Authority’s award for innovation and the Director General Award for Safety Innovations in 2022, and the National Safety Award in 2023.
