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more details:
“Thanks to this system, we’re able to
move flag people out of harm’s way. There’s
also the fatigue factor to consider. In a nor-mal
flagging system, you have a flag person
standing on the road, all day, with the occa-sional
break,” says Gurniak.
“The pilot vehicle is also an effective tool.
Since vehicles have to follow the pilot, it en-sures
the traffic line-up is going the appro-priate
speed while passing workers.”
The pilot project for the AFAD was con-ducted
Oct. 6–8, 2015, on a surfacing proj-ect
located approximately 20 kilometres
east of Paradise Hill, Sask. Upon the com-pletion
of the pilot project, the preliminary
results were reviewed. There were no acci-dents
involving flag people during the pilot
project.
Throughout the trial, Holland noted that
MHI staff constantly observed how the de-vice
functioned and how drivers respond-ed.
In an effort to determine the public’s
comfort level with the technology, writ-ten
surveys were given to drivers stopped
at the AFAD.
SAFETY INNOVATION
The automated flagger
assistance device
“Based on the responses, it appears that
the system was understood quite well by
drivers,” he says.
Potzus plans to continue using the tech-nology
during this construction season.
Meanwhile, Holland said MHI is conduct-ing
further research to see how the tech-nology
is used in other jurisdictions and is
creating a set of guidelines for contractors
to follow. It is also encouraging other con-tractors
in the province to adopt AFAD sys-tems
of their own.
Discussions are taking place to make the
AFAD system even more efficient.
One idea Gurniak has is to make the sys-tem
fully automated, similar to those used
in the United States. An automated system
would involve cameras monitoring the traf-fic
and automatically switching the light at
the appropriate time. The MHI guidelines
will also encourage contractors to add a
traffic stop arm to the AFAD system, simi-lar
to a rail crossing.
saskheavy.ca | Quarter 2 2016 | Think BIG 29
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