SWARCO helps manage traffic at Port of Dover

SWARCO has played a key role in helping to manage traffic at the Port of Dover in Kent.

The company installed 15 variable message signs to help better manage and control vehicles through a new freight holding facility. This has had the affect of removing more than 4km of queuing traffic from Kent’s highways.

The Port has created a 13-lane holding zone catering for 220 outbound HGVs, limiting the need for Dover TAP (Traffic Access Protocol), a ‘rolling road’ HGV queuing system on the A20, and greatly reducing traffic and delays in Dover itself.

SWARCO won a competitive tender by FM Conway, the TMI scheme’s main contractor, to install the signs. Two are used to direct HGVs into customs or the holding facility, depending on the quantity of traffic; the remainder are installed on a 57.5 metre-long gantry at the start of the holding facility, giving drivers clear information about which lane to enter.

Matt Smith, head of structures at FM Conway, said: “SWARCO aligned its service and support with ours to ensure that our partnering ethos was maintained throughout the project.

“Working to extremely tight timescales and programme changes, SWARCO carried out its works in a professional and accommodating manner which helped to ensure we delivered this project on time and to budget.”

The signs, which were made to order within three months and include over 160,000 individual LEDs, were required to meet the Port’s exacting light emission standards to cater for its 24/7 freight needs and reduce light pollution at night.

Andrew Walker, SWARCO’s business development manager, added “Continued investment in our ports is required to support the UK’s growing trade needs. The installation at the Port of Dover emphasises SWARCO’s ability to provide quality solutions and equipment to benefit the port, reduce traffic congestion in the local area, and enhance the UK’s trading needs.”

The Port of Dover handles £119 billion of trade annually, and saw record freight volumes of 2.53 million units in 2015, up five percent on 2014, and handles up to 17 percent of the UK’s trade.