Infrastructure Company Wins Rights to Develop “Wi-Fi Road”
Emily Pollock posted on September 06, 2018 |
Costain is helping Highways England develop a 5G-connected road that will eventually connect cars to each other and to roadside “units.”(Image courtesy of Costain.)
Smart infrastructure company Costain has been awarded a contract to design and install a pilot “smart motorway” in England.
Back in December 2017, Highways England announced a proposal to install high-speed fiber-optic cable across much of the county’s roadways. As part of the proposal, the company announced a pilot project, the £15 million ($19 million) A2M2-connected corridor through Kent County.
Costain is a “smart construction” firm most notable for its role in the building of the undersea “Chunnel” between England and France. On August 21, the firm announced that it had won the contract to help Highways England administer the Kent pilot project. Costain will install roadside “units” with the capability of “speaking” to trial vehicles via onboard technology over 5GHz Wi-Fi. These units will send information about traffic conditions, traffic instructions and road signs directly into the vehicles.
The company will also install sensors onto roads, tunnels and bridges to screen for traffic conditions and repair-worthy damage to the road in what Highways England calls, “a live feed from each site giving dynamic data about each structure.” So far, there…