The Millau viaduct, newly inaugurated by President Jacques Chirac, is now the world’s tallest road bridge. It stands high above the Tarn valley in France’s Massif Central mountains, as seen in this 11 December satellite image from ESA’s Proba.
The bridge is made of a four-lane steel-built roadway stretching across 2460 metres. At its highest the roadway is suspended 270 metres above the Tarn River.
It is supported by seven concrete pillars standing 343 metres tall, greater t
The way in which automatic transport systems are currently designed, is out of date. That is one of the conclusions of PhD student Corné Versteegt, who will defend his thesis on 15 December at TU Delft. This is important information for the transport sector, which will become more automated in the future.
An example of transport automation is the future Ondergronds Logistieke Systeem Schiphol (Underground Logistic System Schiphol, or OLS Schiphol), that will connect the airport wit
Technological aids designed to prevent accidents at sea sometimes have the opposite effect as a contributory factor in collisions and groundings. In a new dissertation from Linköping University in Sweden it is proposed that cognitive and social aspects should be in focus in the design of conning bridges, rather than technology and components.
Margareta Lützhöft, a cognition scientist with several years of experience as a ship’s officer, traveled with fifteen vessels to study work
New easier-to-read road signs based on Penn State research are appearing across the U.S. and Canada.
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has approved the interim use of a new typeface, called Clearview, for signs on all public streets, highways, and byways. New signs bearing Clearview, instead of the old familiar Highway Gothic, already appear on Routes 322 and 80 in Pennsylvania near Penn State, on highways throughout Texas and in Canada.
A decade in development,
When Bart Watson leaves home to go on a business trip, his personal communication services will accompany him. The e-mails he studied on his PC at home will also be available on the terminal in his car, where they are read to him by his handheld device while he drives. This seamless handover from broadband internet connection at home to DVB-T connection in the car is one of the research results by EU project DAIDALOS, which will be demonstrated at a public workshop in Stuttgart on 14 December
In airports on both sides of the Atlantic, BioWise is taking off as a leader in the provision of multi-biometric and multi-modal identification and authentication middleware for safer air travel.
Working with SITA and UNISYS, the BioWise system is in use in the US’ large-scale registered traveller’s pilot programme for internal flights. “In return for registering,” explains André Oeyen, Managing Director of BioWise, “they will be considered as trusted travellers and will be gr
Robotiker Telecom is collaborating with Telvent traffic, road transport and toll payment systems R+D group in the design of satellite and microwave (wireless) tele-payment at highway/motorway toll booths.
More specifically, the new system is based GNSS/CN technology incorporating, moreover, DSCR 5.8 GHz technology to ensure compatibility with current toll payment systems.
Although the payment systems based on satellite and cellular networks are in a pioneering stage, the l
One of the conclusions of Arjen Zoeteman, who will defend his thesis on 22 November at TU Delft, is that significant amounts of money could be saved on the maintenance of European railway systems, including the Netherlands. Through a carefully structured schedule and a detailed analysis of maintenance work, he was able to achieve a cost reduction of 10 percent for the Dutch railway system.
The operators of the rail networks, such as NS, are continuously increasing the demands on t
Electrically powered planes and ships which are lighter, can travel further, cause less pollution and have oil-free engines are a step closer to becoming a reality, as a new centre for research at The University of Manchester opens today (Friday, November 12).
The Rolls-Royce University Technology Centre in Electrical Systems for Extreme Environments will be officially opened by Rolls-Royce Chief Operating Officer John Cheffins, just one mile from where Charles Rolls and Henry R
A system to help assess the impact of proposed action, or inaction, in dealing with disabled and drifting ships is being developed with the help of grant of €1.25m (euros) from the EU’s Framework Programme.
The objective of SAFETOW (Strategic Aid for Escort Tugs at Work), a 36 month project with a total cost of €2.24m (euros), is to provide tools to help ships Masters control their vessels if they become disabled. It will also help Masters of salvage and escort tugs to take de
Improved safety at sea for cruise ship passengers and crews will be the outcome of a research and development project, funded with the help of over €1.7m (euros) from the EU’s Framework Programme.
SEA-AHED (Simulation environment and advisory system for on-board help, and estimation of manoeuvring performance during design) was a 39-month project to produce a technology system that can predict the course of cruise ships within 10 to 20 metres – far more accurately than anything c
A unique technology partnership between Cranfield University and California-based Hayes Diversified Technologies (HDT) has created the world’s first production diesel military motorbike – and the first bike of any kind with a purpose-designed diesel power unit.
An initial order for 522 diesel motorcycles has already been placed by the US Marines. Delivery is due to commence in early 2005. In addition, keen interest is being shown by the US Army, the UK Ministry of Defence
Imagine driving from Sweden to Spain and never having to stop to pay a toll. That scenario could soon become a reality thanks in part to the work of PISTA, which has validated a new European standard for interoperable electronic fee collection (EFC) systems.
Through trials in seven European countries, the IST project has proven the practicality of toll road operators applying the CEN 278 interoperability standard to EFC systems, which allow drivers to pay tolls electronically th
A group of researchers at the Public University of Navarre, together with the Navarre-based company, Frenos Iruña S.A.L., is undertaking a project for the design and development of handbrakes aimed at specialised vehicles such as tractors, excavators or forklift trucks.
The brake control is the part that is behind the brake pedal, which we press our foot down on when we wish to brake. It involves an assembly or unit made up of master brake cylinders and servobrakes.
Th
University of Surrey staff and students are taking part in the rebuilding of Concorde 202. They will be reassembling some key parts of Concorde’s engine air intakes on campus over the next few months. The work coincides with the imminent arrival of contractors at Brooklands Museum who will be joining the wings and fuselage back together. The parts being refurbished by UniS volunteers will then be attached to the aircraft.
Concorde is a unique and special aircraft, an unrivalled avia
The Bizkaian company, Ekoplast Balenciaga, manufacturer of large, high-thickness plastic parts, has developed and patented, in collaboration with the Gaiker technological centre, a novel support for the handling and transport of coils of sheet steel. Made from 100% recyclable plastics from containers, agricultural film, the recycling also contributes to a better use of these plastic residues generated by these industrial sectors.
Undertaking the novel design with the latest generation CAD
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