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AI tech trial cuts cost of Costain’s M6 roadworks
Justin Stanton Editor, CM Digital
AI-enabled roadworks planning technology has saved time and money on Costain’s smart upgrade of the M6.
Developed by Alchera Technologies, it uses AI to generate the most favourable times to schedule works, using accurate traffic flow predictions and balancing the trade-off between creating financial efficiencies and giving road users the most positive experience. The solution optimised traffic management and reduced road closures.
Indeed, during Costain’s two-month trial on Junction 21a to Junction 23 of the M6, 2,100 fewer journeys in total were delayed. Also, an estimated £45,000 was saved by consolidating work and enabling the cancellation of one-in-28 shifts.
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Alchera chief executive Anna Jordan said: “We’re passionate about making better use of mobility data to drive intelligent decision-making and wanted to take full advantage of the opportunity to work with National Highways to demonstrate how the road user experience can be improved, while still reducing costs.
“The trial has clearly evidenced how our software can be used to reduce the delays caused by roadworks, while also ensuring that works are carried out in the most cost-effective way.”
Extrapolating from the trial, Alchera estimates that use of the technology across all of National Highways’ roads could reduce the number of delayed journeys by 900,000 and save the public purse £18.2m.
More tech, more savings
The trial was part of a National Highways innovation competition. Costain’s trial of Alchera was one of three that won the competition. The other two winning technologies that have undergone successful trials are:
Robok, which uses AI-powered computer vision technology to analyse CCTV footage to understand road user and roadworker behaviour and thus help to improve people’s experiences of roadworks. This trial was supported by Balfour Beatty on the M25 J10/A3 Interchange. Robok processed more than 10,000 hours of video footage and successfully enhanced hazard detection capabilities.
WordNerds brought together more than 250,000 pieces of textual customer feedback on roadworks and pulled out useful, actionable insights using AI models. Working in partnership with Costain, Kier and Balfour Beatty, the trial led to 16 major actions, from auditing signage issues to exploring EV charging options and improving communications, all based on road user comments.
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