DIRECTED By TRAFICON

THE LATEST NEWS FROM THE WORLD OF TRAFFIC VIDEO DETECTION

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issue 17, spring 2011 WWW.TrAfiCon.Com

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Delight Your Customers!

traficon is in business to de-liver high-quality products and provide excellent cus-tomer service. And if i may be a bit immodest for once (atypical for traficon), we do

well in both. At least, that’s what the latest customer satisfaction survey tells us (see page 3). still, we always keep our feet on the ground (quite typical for traficon)

– we know that, by continuously investing vigorous efforts in high-quality products and excellent customer service, we delight our customers!

Quality is KeyAlthough the survey says we already

score quite high in both hardware and soft-ware quality, we want to take our product quality to an even higher level. so, we’re now implementing extra quality procedu-res to detect possible product issues at the earliest stage possible. You should see the fruits of these efforts in 2011.

and so is customer supportYou expect excellent customer sup-

port. it’s that simple – and that’s how we’ve always made the difference. but we feel we can do even better for our ‘out-of-the-box’ sensor products like traficam and safeWalk. because people using these products for the first time may need some extra technical assistance, we’re making resources available to make sure our ‘sen-sor users’ get the help they need. We’ve already made a good start by introducing video tutorials that show you how to install and configure our detectors. And there’s a lot more in the pipeline.

One final word: as a firm believer and promoter of an open company culture

– constantly seeking dialogue with all stakeholders – i’m always open to your suggestions. in fact, your ideas about how we can improve our products or services would delight me!

— lode caenepeel, ceO

Life was so simple back in the old days. This familiar sentiment applies particularly well to video surveillance and the CCTV market in general. In the old days, install-ing an analogue camera network basi-cally involved an electrician running coax cables. Today’s IP-based camera networks require IT specialists to program firewalls, monitor network bandwidths and manage the system.

In the last 10 years or so, this shift from analogue to IP camera networks has completely changed the CCTV market, affecting every component of a CCTV system: the network, the camera and the video recording.

Network cameras are already being used throughout the surveillance indus-try – and often, the technologies used in that industry are gradually carried over to the traffic industry. So, it’s just a matter of time before the new generation traffic cameras will all be using IP signals. Are you prepared? Is Traficon prepared?

Everything you always wanted to know, but were afraid to ask …

We’ve anticipated your asking. In this newsletter, you’ll learn more about the current shift from analogue to IP and how this trend towards IP cameras and IP net-works will affect the traffic industry. This information should help you take informed decisions about your upcoming IP video detection projects. You’ll also learn more about VIP-IP and how this robust board can easily meet the expectations of traffic managers who want to use IP cameras.

Traficam goes indiaAnd that’s not all – this issue includes

the latest-and-greatest news about our range of integrated video sensors. First of all, the fantastic news that more than 700 vehicle presence sensors are head-ing to India to meet a challenge: creating smoother traffic in Mumbai and Chennai! Secondly, we show you how the SafeWalk and C-Walk applications are being used in the USA. And finally, for a quick overview of

which sensor best fits your needs, take a look at our new online ‘cata-logue’: www.traficonsensors.com. Check it out and let us know your preference! B

a TraFFic TrEnD TaKEs oFF

"it’s just a matter of time before the new generation traffic cameras will all be using iP signals. are you prepared?"

IP

MaDEira (PorTugaL)� What started as a small project – one tunnel with a couple of cameras in Madeira – has become a major Traficon reference in Portugal. Today, this automatic incident Detection (aiD)� project includes a total of 13 tunnels, almost 300 ViP-T modules and a Flux traffic manage-ment system. reason enough to talk to the local system integrator, sicE, who, along with Viaexpresso, is responsible for all roads and tunnels in Madeira. Mr. octávio silva from sicE generously shares his experiences with us.

Q: Please give us some background infor-mation about this video detection project.

OS: The full Madeira project consisted of supplying, installing and maintaining a Sur-veillance Control System for traffic tunnels. That project started in November 2008, when SICE formalised its contract with the Concessionária de Estradas Viaexpresso da Madeira S.A. to modernise the tunnels in Madeira. To meet the customer require-ments for incident detection, SICE could count on the support and experience of Traficon in terms of planning, project guid-ance and installing and configuring the AID system.

Q: how many tunnels are already equipped with an aiD system?

OS: Viaexpresso monitors a total of 53 tunnels via the new Control Center. For this project, tunnels longer than 1000 metres needed to be covered with a full CCTV sur-veillance system. In practice, this means a total of 13 tunnels – or a total of 26,479 metres of incident detection coverage with 286 detectors installed. At this point, 260 detectors – including all software and hardware – have already been tested and commissioned by the Concessionária.

Q: has the aiD system already proven its life-saving effectiveness?

OS: We are seeing an increasing number of cases where the Traficon system is es-sential to avoiding (secondary) accidents or to giving feedback to other road users regarding dangers inside and just outside the tunnels.

Q: What were the difficulties you faced in this aiD project?

OS: The typology of the tunnels made this project technically challenging. We were confronted with a lot of tubes with climbs and turns, which made it difficult to mount the cameras in the ideal positions. It also proved to be a demanding job, be-cause the existing tunnels remained open to traffic most of the time, which slowed the installation process, of course. Luckily, we had Traficon’s technical support from start to finish.

Q: What are your experiences with Trafi-con and its crew?

OS: We are certainly happy we chose Traficon as our partner for this project. I hope we can work together on many new projects in the future! B

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smart Traffic management in madeira

APPeArAnCesFA i R s & e X h i b i t i O n s W O R l d W i d e

ff 25–27 may 2011Intertraffic Istanbul (Turkey) Stand D-4/5

ff 6–8 June 20118th ITS European Congress (Lyon, France) Stand C120

ff 3–5 october 2011Intertraffic India (New Delhi, India)

ff 16–20 october 2011ITS World Congress (Orlando, FL, USA) Stand 1249

snAP sHoTsn e W s F R O M A R O u n d t h e g l O b e

The city of Darmstadt is combining VIP/P modules and TrafiCam x-stream sensors to monitor and control traffic at intersections.

Flux manages all 23 detectors right from the control center – so the operator has a perfect view of all traffic flows in the city. Navigator is an online platform providing road users with valuable real-time traffic information about traffic conditions in and around Atlanta (USA). All data are provided by our loyal VIP boards. Initially, 208 VIP modules were used for both traffic data collection and incident detection. Today, that number has risen to more than 1600 detectors.

There’s a new mee-ting point at Traficon HQ: the kicker table. In fact, the kicker table is the ideal spot to discuss problems, get

the latest updates, and … ‘kick’ some col-leagues’ butts! The first AID project in Morocco – the Oudayas tunnel – will soon be completed. This is a typical pioneer project for Trafi-con to prove the power of our technology. An opportunity we will of course grab with both hands!

Since the develop-ment of our first inte-grated traffic sensor in 2003, Traficon has sold more than 25,000 units of these intel-

ligent video sensors for traffic control. To help you choose the best sensor for your needs, Traficon has designed a new on-line platform: www.traficonsensors.com

ELEFsina (grEEcE)� olympia odos is cur-rently the biggest and most challenging construction project in greece, and one of the biggest in Europe: a €1.8 billion investment for the design, construction, operation and maintenance of a modern, European-standard motorway linking the northwest of Peloponnesus to the rest of greece and the world. an appointment with greek history Traficon couldn’t miss!

With a total length of 365 km, this new motorway will create a more direct and safer route between the towns of Elefsina and Tsakona. Primarily helping to reduce travel time, the motorway will help improve overall mobility in south-western Greece,

making it easier to do business in the re-gion of Peloponnesus.

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olympia odos not a Myth – greek Reality Anno 2011

> Continue on page 3

The new control center in Madeira monitoring 53 tunnels.

365km of Greek motorway is being modernized. (source: Olympia Odos)

From Elefsina to TsakonaErwin Blanckaert, Traficon’s project

manager for Greece, about Traficon’s contribution: “There are 6 tunnels along the motorway: Elefsina-Korinthos-Patra-Pyrgos-Tsakona. That’s where Traficon technology comes in! Each of these tunnels is (or will soon be) equipped with an Automatic Incident Detection (AID) system to detect every traffic incident inside these tunnels within a couple of seconds.

“We’re already halfway: 3 out of the 6

tunnels have been equipped with our VIP-T modules. Together with our local part-ner, New Alert, we’ve already installed and configured 155 AID cameras.”

Project completion is scheduled for 2013. Then, all inhabitants and tour-ists cruising along this motorway will not only enjoy the Greek sun but also an ultra-modern infrastructure for travel-ling quickly and safely from Elefsina to Tsakona!

› More info: www.olympiaodos.gr

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We’re Happy if You’re Happy!

traficon’s direct customers and end-users around the world were surveyed end of 2010 on their satisfaction with aspects of our products and customer service including: pre-sales availability, product quality, commercial flexibility, access to customer support, documentation, project management, on-site assistance, and more.

this overall satisfaction score is com-parable to the excellent score we received in 2008, and it surpasses traficon’s refer-ence score. B

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Always Wear a Helmet!

this is a true story of how young entre-preneurship can lead to a safer world.

A 10 year-old boy named Michiel duytschaever wrote a handwritten letter to traficon, asking us if we could help him. in his letter, he explained that his school is situated in a very traffic-dangerous envi-ronment. every day, a lot of kids take a big risk as they ride to school on their bikes. because he was a victim of a traffic ac-cident himself, Michiel wanted to do some-thing for his classmates so they wouldn’t experience the same kind of trauma.

because this young boy took such a nice initiative, and because this theme is so close to traficon’s heart – our mission is to create safer and smoother traffic around the world – we decided to sponsor Michiel so he could buy cool helmets for all of the kids in his class. Well done Michiel! Keep up the good work! B

A worker sets up a new TrafiCam camera in front of Chennai central railway station.

Michiel (left) together with a school friend and helmet.

P R O d u c t s P O t l i g h t

traffic congestion in indian cities: a Challenge for TrafiCam!

Traffic management has been a chal-lenge in India for some time – and it’s becoming more difficult with every pass-ing day. In addition to increasing traffic congestion and complexity, the urban areas are also faced with other transport-related problems such as increas-ing CO2 emissions and depleting fuel resources, which adversely impact the well-being of any major city.

But cities like Mumbai and Chennai are taking up the challenge. Next to building new roads, they are investing heavily in advanced technologies and intelligent so-lutions that optimise traffic management.

Now, they’ve discovered a solution for making traffic lights more efficient: Traficon’s integrated video sensor! Nearly 700 vehicle presence detectors (both TrafiCam and TrafiCam x-stream) have been ordered for installation in the city of

Mumbai; and 100 other TrafiCam detectors are in-stalled and opera-tional in Chennai as we speak.

Sukhdev Bhogal, Business Develop-ment Director for India:

“First of all I’m honoured that cities like Mumbai and Chennai have chosen our technology. It proves that they are con-vinced that our products are capable of meeting up with the latest and toughest requirements in terms of intelligent and dynamic traffic control in cities.

And secondly, India’s vibrant economy and its growing traffic industry offer an excellent expansion opportunity. These major contracts fit perfectly with our growth strategy and with our objec-tive to penetrate new high-potential markets. So we are convinced this is just the beginning for Traficon in India!”

› More info:

www.traficon.com/information/news_detail.jsp?id=150

They’ve discovered a solution for making traffic lights more efficient: Traficon’s integrated video sensor!

T r A f i C o n ’ s

o v e r A l l s AT i s fA C T i o n s C o r e

Pedestrian detection is hot! Definitely in the USA – where the government is mak-ing budget available to encourage people to leave their car at home. Biking and walking reduce congestion – so, lower CO2 emissions – and they also have a positive impact on health. In short: they simply improve the quality of life!

With SafeWalk and C-Walk, Traficon offers two solutions to protect these vulnerable road users. Sounds good – but what are these intelligent detectors really used for? Here are some examples.

› More info: James F. Lampe, Control Technologies (+1 703.966.2720 - Lampe@cttraffic.com)

1 Virginia BEach, VaDetection at a convention centre cross-walk. The system activates adjacent signalled intersections to provide a safe space for pedestrians.

3 WashingTon, DcActivating the pedestrian phases near the Jefferson Memorial.

5 LynchBurg, VaDetection of waiting pedestrians acti-vating the Rapid Flashing Beacons (via Spot Devices) near the City Hall to warn oncoming traffic.

4 PrincE gEorgEs counTy, MDActivating beacons at a mid-block cross-ing near a major university.

2 DurhaM, ncProviding advance detection for an in-tersection pedestrian crosswalk along a popular fitness trail.

6 WashingTon, DcActivating the pedestrian phases at a signalized intersection for people who are waiting to cross Georgia Avenue NW.

TRAFICON : “THE INSIDER - ISSUE 17” k LODE CAENEpEEL l STIJN VANDEBUERIEa EDDy VERmEULEN wOUTER FAVOREEL ERwIN BLANCqUAERT SUkHDEV BHOgAL e STIJN VANDEBUERIE g JIm LAmpE TAmSIN gREULICH

£ OCTÁVIO SILVA THIERRy VLIEgHE EDDy VERmEULEN mICHIEL DUyTSCHAEVER w DAVID LIBEERT

VISIT OUR WEBSITE FOR UP-TO-DATE INFORMATION

Copyright © MMXi trafiCon. all rights reserved.none of the Materials provided on this publiCation May be used, reproduCed or transMitted, in any forM or by any Means, eleCtroniC or

MeChaniCal, inCluding reCording or the use of any inforMation storage and retrieval systeM, without written perMission froM trafiCon n.v.

A P P l i c At i O n s P O t l i g h t

Putting Theory into PracticeSafewalk & C-Walk at Work

WWW.TRAFICON.COM

TraFicon sTuDiosh O W t O R e A c h u s W O R l d W i d e

Traficon (HQ) Tel.: +32 (0)56 37 22 00 Fax: +32 (0)56 37 21 96 E-mail: traficon@traficon.com

Traficon UsATel.: +1 (702) 851 5880 Fax: +1 (702) 851 5881 E-mail: traficon@traficonusa.com

Traficon Asia - shanghaiTel.: +86 21 2215 7848 Fax: +86 21 2215 7849 E-mail: traficon@traficonasia.com

Traficon Asia - BeijingTel.: +86 10 8532 2980-607 Fax: +86 10 8532 5152 E-mail: traficon@traficonasia.com

Traficon franceTel.: +33 686 552 725 Fax: +33 442 738 875 E-mail: traficon@traficonfrance.com

Traficon GermanyTel.: +49 (0) 5446 20 65 32 Fax: +49 (0) 5446 20 65 34 E-mail: traficon@traficongermany.com

Traficon UKTel.: +44 560 271 4559 Fax: +32 (0)56 37 21 96 E-mail: traficon@traficon.com

Traficon spainTel.: +34 913 994 208 E-mail: traficon@traficon.com

Q: Why video (and aiD)� on iP?Eddy: In fact, this may not really be a choice in the near future. Independent analysts (like those from IMS) report IP video technology adoption rates between 20% and 40% – and they predict market growth rates of up to 200%.This is clearly being reflected in the offer-ings from camera, recorder and display wall manufacturers. All established camera suppliers are working hard on IP versions of their products.Soon, IP components will overtake the analogue catalogue – in the long run, it will be hard to find and support analogue video solutions.

Q: What’s different from the well-known analogue video world?Eddy: Two critical components in IP video systems are seriously different: the camera and the network. A lot of manu-facturers have introduced new sensor technology in IP cameras: CMOS sensors. These sensors are widely available with high resolutions. While CMOS technology is improving very fast, a lot of those sen-sors still suffer from lower light sensitivity. This is related to the technology itself and the fact that high-resolution sensors have more pixels on the same sensor surface

– so, less light per pixel. Especially for outdoor monitoring and traffic control – in low (or no) light and night conditions – this can be a serious drawback.

Regarding AID, the higher resolution offers no additional advantage today. It only improves the visualisation side of the system. One can conclude that it is still important – and it may become even more difficult – to select the right camera for the job. After all, this is the eye of the system.

By moving to IP video solutions, the net-work also becomes a critical component. A reliable network becomes the primary condition for all operations.Designers should be aware that the archi-tecture and functioning of a video network is fundamentally different from that of a data network. Data networks have a one-to-many nature and an on-demand function: a server provides information to numerous PC clients upon request. Video networks have a many-to-few nature and a publishing function: many cameras continuously push a stable, but high, load of video information on the network to a few clients (operator station, NVR, AID), regardless of whether the video is used or not. This has a severe impact on the network requirements.

The network designer should understand the application flow of video and adapt the network dimension to the worst-case scenario: where all operators are viewing the same cameras at the same time. This situation will occur in the most critical mo-ment: when an incident occurs.

It requires a different approach and competence to design and deploy such systems. Where an analogue video sys-tem was mainly a matter of laying a lot of coax cables, an IP video system is the job of an IT expert.

Q: Why should a customer select Traficon when choosing to implement automatic incident Detection (aiD)� on iP video?Eddy: Despite the differences in connec-tion technology as described above, the core function of AID remains the same: detect incidents and monitor traffic flow. The Traficon VIP-IP detector board deploys exactly the same algorithms that have proven their efficiency for over 25 years in more than 75,000 operational detectors worldwide.

Eddy Vermeulen is 43 years young. He joined Traficon in 2008 as product manager and is seen as the in-house specialist in IP-related matters. Eddy and his wife Pascale are the proud parents of Sam, their 3-year-old son. He likes travelling, both classic and exotic cooking and listening to electro music.

iP for Dummiesa Q& a WiT h T r a Ficon's iP E x PEr T

ME E T T hE E x P E r T

What do you absolutely need to know about ‘iP’? We asked that question to Eddy Vermeulen, Traficon’s product mana-ger for all aiD products & solutions and expert in iP-related matters such as iP cameras, iP networks and iP video de-tection. here is his version of ‘iP for dummies’…

"Where an analogue video system was mainly a matter of laying a lot of coax cables, an iP video system is the job of an iT expert."

Centralised or Decentralised:Which Option to choose?

Centralised video detection system. VIP detectors are installed close to the control room.

Still, deploying IP solutions entails new challenges and risks as described above. It’s important to engage with an estab-lished partner to maintain the reliability of the system’s core function: making traffic smoother and safer.

Q: When i think of networks, i think of Pcs. Why does Traficon detection come in embedded format? Eddy: While PCs are indeed very power-ful, it is a common misunderstanding that they are also very good at processing video information. A PC is not designed to handle the huge amount of video data. The central processor (CPU) inside the PC is extremely fast at doing things sequen-tially (so fast that it appears to be doing several tasks simultaneously). However, a quad CPU can only execute four transac-tions at the same time.

In contrast, video analytics, encoding and decoding need to perform identical opera-tions on each pixel within the time span of a single frame (1/25th of a second). Such processes benefit much more from mas-sive parallel processing – and this is the performance that Traficon designs in its

embedded solution, without the overhead of other power-hungry components.

Furthermore, the PC market is driven by the consumer market, where users want to watch a television clip or a home video – never more than a couple of things at one time. For traffic and surveillance, we need to deal with a large number of video chan-nels simultaneously. And that’s where you quickly run into the limits of PC platforms.

Thirdly, installing the video processing equipment near the traffic sensor lowers the required network bandwidth and its cost. But this means that the equipment must withstand the harsh roadside envi-ronment. Standard PCs are designed for office and home environments – embed-ded electronics are built to more rugged specifications.

Finally, AID installations are built to run for 20 years or more. When you realise that the typical lifetime of a commercial PC is 4 years, it’s clear that the lifetime cost of an embedded system easily beats a PC-based solution.

anybody tasked with creating a new vi-deo detection system will need to decide whether to opt for a centralised or a de-centralised platform on which to run their system. For those unfamiliar with either solution, this decision is a potential minefield that could lead to some costly disappointment. it’s well worth taking a little time to understand the options available.

What are the options?In layman’s terms, this issue comes

down to where you want your video content analysis to be performed. In a centralised detection system, the cam-eras continuously transmit their video images to a control room where all video processing, alarm, event and storage management is conducted by a central system with the appropriate management software.

To illustrate this approach, consider a traditional analogue video system: each camera’s video feed is sent separately over a fibre-optic network (this is called ‘point-to-point communication’) to a central control room. There, the video is processed by the detection system and an analogue matrix switch allows opera-tors to view each feed on a monitor of their choosing. It’s worth noting that, in a cen-tralised system, camera signals can either be transmitted in the traditional analogue way or over an IP network.

In an IP CCTV system, the data and incident detection and short-term pre- and post-incident video recording can be performed at the camera site itself, which is a decentralised approach. Using the detection system in a decentralised way

1 in the traffic industry iP cameras will overtake analogue cameras in about three to five years.

2 network design will be a critical factor for upcoming Aid projects?3 traficon offers solutions for both centralised/decentralised

and analogue/iP video detection systems.re

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er

allows the network to be used as a virtual video matrix. This means that the network itself is capable of switching the video from a camera to a specific monitor, so not all cameras need to continuously transmit their video to the central control room.

So, the main difference between the two options is simply where all the detection equipment (detector boards and management software) is located: in a centralised system, it’s in the control

room; in a decentralised system, the operator has the option of having it in the field next to the cameras, or even inside the cameras. If you are working with a tra-ditional analogue CCTV system (as most systems – including the vast majority of tunnel projects – still are today), in which everything is centralised, then the natural choice is to centralise your video detec-tion as well.

Deciding factorsNot needing to send everything to the

control room means no restrictions on your network, which has a positive impact on future scalability. For instance, in a de-centralised system, it’s very easy to add another camera and detector board (or even another 50 of them) to the network.

Decentralised video analytics also allow decentralised video recording. This local recording tends to be of higher quality than that sent over a network to a control room: for example, you could get 25 fps

instead of 5 fps, at full D1 quality instead of CIF quality.

A centralised approach depends a great deal on the quality of the communication lines between the camera and the control room. If an incident occurs – and the com-munications network gets overloaded due to so much data being sent to the control room at once (even just for a second) – the impact could be disastrous. An opera-tor may simply see a small blink on the monitors – but in video detection, losing even a couple of video frames can mean generating unwanted alarms, or even worse, missing a genuine alarm.

Even just compressing the video to send it to the control room can cause image artefacts that adversely affect the quality of the detection. From this perspective, a decentralised system may be more reliable. If, however, a central-ised system is the better option – as it still is for many of today’s projects – then system designers need to ensure that a high-quality video signal is available at all times.

Any applications in the cash-strapped traffic sector will need to be cost-effec-tive, and price is often a deciding factor here. In a tunnel incident detection project (unless it’s an especially large tunnel), distances are relatively small, which makes a centralised system the cheaper, smarter option. But on highways, where distances are greater and camera units more plentiful, then it’s not cost-effective to have everything constantly fed back to a central control room.

actually, it’s simple: choose Traficon!For a video detection solutions sup-

plier like Traficon, whether a system is centralised or decentralised is not a big issue – our systems work happily in either scenario. Currently, about 80% of our customers use analogue or point-to-point communication systems linked to a cen-tral control room. However, the growing trend towards IP networks means that we’re anticipating that, in about three to five years, 80% of our customers will opt for decentralised systems.

Technological progress brings a greater variety of options for decision-makers. But whatever choices they make – now and in the future – one thing will remain constant: Traficon’s ability to deliver cut-ting-edge video detection solutions that work excellently with any type of system.

"The growing trend towards iP networks means that we’re anticipating that, in about three to five years, 80% of our customers will opt for decentralised systems."

Decentralised video detection system. Installation of the VIP detector is close to the camera.

Traficon’s first VIP board for analysing images from network cameras is a fact: it’s called VIP-IP, and it’s ready to hit the road…

VIP-IP integrates automatic incident detection, traffic data collection, vehicle presence detection, digital recording of pre- and post-incident video sequences, and streaming video in one board for a va-riety of traffic management applications such as tunnels, highways and bridges.

h.264 ViDEo coMPrEssionThe VIP-IP connects to IP network cam-

eras that provide MPEG-4 or H.264 video compression and generates streaming video back out, with embedded detection information. The high-performance on-board ARM A8 processor allows different image processing algorithms to run in parallel to deliver a multi-functional de-tector board for optimal traffic control and fast, accurate incident detection.

nEWcasTLE uPon TynE (u.K.)� The new Tyne crossing is a prestigious uK project to develop a second vehicle tunnel under the river Tyne and to refurbish the exi-sting vehicle tunnel. scheduled for com-pletion by the end of 2011, it’s one of the biggest transport infrastructure projects currently active in great Britain. it’s also a reference project in terms of state-of-the-art tunnel safety measurements. in a nutshell, a must-be-there for Traficon!

The existing vehicle Tyne Tunnel has been operating since 1967. Designed for a daily traffic throughput of 24,000 vehicles, it is currently serving 38,000 customers a day during peak periods. To meet growing customer demands, the development of a second vehicle tunnel was initiated in Spring 2008.

second Tyne Vehicle TunnelThis new carriageway will be approxi-

mately 2.6 km long, and the new tunnel will comprise 1.5 km of the total length.

The new tunnel will be just to the east of the existing tunnel – having the pair of tunnels will allow each tunnel to serve two lanes of traffic travelling in the same di-rection. The current tunnel has two single lanes of traffic in opposite directions – so this traffic hazard will be eliminated.

The safest tunnels in the uKThe new tunnel integrates standard

safety equipment with the latest technol-ogy to help motorists escape safely in case of an incident and to prevent dam-age to the tunnel structure. Now, there will be a state-of-the-art active fire suppres-sion system, plus IP network cameras for Automatic Incident Detection. So, 32 VIP-IP modules will analyse the IP video streams to alert operators if something goes wrong inside the tunnel. All of this is reassuring news – and a huge step forward in making these Tyne tunnels the safest in the UK.

› More info: http://tt2.co.uk/

The First ViP Board using iP cameras

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new Tyne crossing Engages Latest ViP-iP Technology

VIP-IP modules are grouped together in a 19" rack system. Each module is connected to an IP camera.

(source: photo courtesy of New Tyne Crossing)