Hyder Consulting has proposed a road safety system for over-height vehicles on Bahrain highways.

The new system by the award-winning international advisory and design consultancy will help prevent damage to a number of structures and gantry signs by over-height vehicles on Bahrain’s main highways, the company said in a statement.

The consultancy’s proposal was highlighted during its participation at the recent Second Middle East Conference and Exhibition on Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS). 

The ITS conference focused on understanding and “Setting the Roadmap” to tackle traffic congestion, road safety, security and the environment.

“Every year, vast amounts of damage are caused by driver negligence, either through ignorance regarding the height of their vehicles, or because of inattention,” said Mike Newport, senior highway engineer in Hyder Consulting Middle East.

“There are countless factors that can cause height-related accidents—from over-loaded vehicles to vehicles that have not stowed their cranes fully before travelling.”

“Our proposed system will enable us to detect over-height vehicles using infrared beams spanning the highway at a set height. When these beams are broken, the control system will automatically warn the driver of the restriction and divert them to an alternative route,” he said.

As part of the new system, new over-height bridges and underpasses will be designed with a minimum headroom clearance of 5.8m.

The company said its suggestions came after reviewing existing policy and routes - mainly the King Faisal Highway, Shaikh Isa bin Salman Highway and Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman Highway.

“Because of the diversity of drivers and driving standards in Bahrain, we felt it necessary to consider using several languages,” said Newport.

“This led to further research and the eventual agreement to include Arabic, English and Malayalam in displaying the warning signs. This will provide the kingdom with an intelligent comprehensive transport system that will serve to prevent potential damages on the country’s main roads in the future,” he said. – TradeArabia News Service