TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT |
The power of accuracy An advanced digital weight enforcement system provides highly reliable and accurate data to monitor and manage traffic, and protect road infrastructure from overloaded vehicles Words | Christoph Klauser, Kistler, Germany
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here is no doubt that roads are vital to supply people and industries with much needed goods. They are, however, under serious stress: overweight trucks cause heavy wear on road surfaces and bridges. This calls for effective ways to m onitor streets to protect critical infrastructure and enforce traffic regulation. In 2020, almost 3.7 million tons of goods were moved via roads in Germany, making this traffic mode by far the most important in terms of logistics. The amount of transported goods has steadily increased over the past 20 years, and experts predict this trend will continue. This will put a heavy burden on road surfaces, because the number of overloaded trucks will grow accordingly. Overloaded trucks put a high strain on road surfaces as the impact of force per vehicle
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Above: KiTraffic Digital contains proven WIM technology and sensors for vehicle count and classification
Intertraffic World | Annual Showcase 2022
increases exponentially with higher axle load. This can result in potholes and cracks, which lead to frost weathering, or ruts, which increase the risk of aquaplaning. Trucks that exceed their permitted width or height or that drive with deflated tyres put other road users in danger. The rising traffic volume thus increases the demand for reliable and efficient direct enforcement systems.
A digital breakthrough
For a long time, weight enforcement systems lacked accuracy, which hampered their wider use for direct enforcement. However, ler has made a breakthrough with its KiTraffic Digital WIM system. This is a digital platform that contains proven weigh-in-motion (WIM) technology, as well as sensors for vehicle count and classification. It offers unprecedented
accuracy, enabling direct weight enforcement on a large scale. As the first technology of its type available in the industry, the KiTraffic Digital WIM system has been awarded OIML R134 certification f or accuracy class F5 by the Swiss Federal Institute of Metrology METAS. This accuracy class indicates a maximum permissible error (MPE) of +/- 2.5% of the gross vehicle weight (GVW) during initial verification. The system was certified for a wide range of axle loads, ranging from 1 to 20 tonnes. The GVW is unlimited. Certified speed ranges are between 10km/h and 100km/h (6mph and 62mph) for heavy trucks, and up to 130km/h (81mph) for light vehicles and vans. Though the OIML certificate is not binding for national legislations, it is widely recognized. The METAS institute operates within the
