Commercial Innovation of the Year

A-one+ – Barrier Master

The most common crash barriers seen on UK highways are steel beams mounted on steel posts that are driven into the ground or set into concrete foundations – and steel post removal is an everyday activity for highways contractors. Their safe removal has typically involved using a mixture of methods and machinery, but A-one+ has developed the Barrier Master to eliminate the need for clamps, chains and cranes.

The Barrier Master hydraulically grips the post and removes it in one operation, eradicating the safety hazards found in the traditional removal method, as well as speeding up the process.

ARC Building Solutions – ARC T-Barrier

ARC Building Solutions’ T-Barrier deals with the problem of thermal bypass between homes in rows of semi-detached and terraced houses.

The T-Barrier acts as an effective edge seal for the party wall cavity between two houses, achieving a zero U-value at the party wall junction and reducing flanking noise, as well as helping to limit the spread of smoke and flames. It has already been specified by a number of housebuilders in 2015, including Bloor Homes, Crest Nicholson and Taylor Wimpey.

Asset International (part of the Hill & Smith Group) – Zoneguard

Asset International developed its Zoneguard temporary steel safety barrier to deliver maximum protection to the highways workforce while ensuring traffic flows are maintained.

The firm says the barrier’s low deflection of 100 mm (when the Zoneguard is anchored every 12 m) makes it the lowest-deflecting temporary steel barrier in the world.

It also offers significant safety, cost and time benefits to the UK highways construction industry, as it allows contractors to operate a safe contraflow without the need for temporary widening in some places.

C-Probe Systems - Alkali-activated Cementitious Build and Restoration Materials

In 2015, C-Probe Systems launched a versatile, green, cementitious material that can be used in new-build and restoration projects.

Manufactured in ambient conditions with no added heat energy and derived largely from recycled and industrial waste materials, it offers carbon emissions savings of around 80 per cent compared with ordinary Portland cement.

C-Probe has gone from experimental batching to a capacity of 10,000 tonnes per annum, with the material used on projects including Crossrail.

Miller UK & Hewden Stuart – Hydraulic Breaker Enhancements

Collaboration between Miller and Hewden has led to the launch of a new hydraulic breaker.

It has three features that set it apart: a top bracket designed to fit machines from multiple manufacturers; a tracking device to prevent loss or theft; and an automated lubrication system.

The top bracket has reduced breaker change times to less than five minutes and has eliminated the need for manual handling, while the lubrication system has helped users avoid having to stop work and grease the machine in a dangerous environment, among other benefits.

Nationwide Platforms (Lavendon Group) – SkySiren PCS

Mobile elevating work platforms still pose a risk of operator entrapment, and there are currently two main types of secondary guarding systems designed to protect against this: physical guarding and pressure-sensing devices.

Nationwide Platforms’ Skysiren Pre-Crush Sensing system is the first to use ultrasonic sensors to automatically detect and alert operators of potential entrapment hazards. This helps to reduce the risk of entrapment before it happens, as opposed to reacting to it.

It also incorporates a pressure sensor as a failsafe, which Nationwide says is the first solution on the market to offer double protection.

SGN – Osprey Pressure Validators

SGN’s Osprey Pressure Validators are wireless, safe, battery-powered, remote monitoring units that record and display gas pressure data in real time using specialist software.

The sensors fit inside bollards, posts and meter boxes to monitor gas pressure up to 100 mbar.

It has allowed SGN to introduce quicker and leaner working practices and reduce costs associated with maintenance.

Other network licensees have also adopted the technology in the UK, with trials now planned for a wider international roll-out.

Tarmac – UltiLow

Tarmac’s UltiLow is a low-temperature asphalt for surfacing projects, mixed roughly 40 deg C lower than its equivalent hot mix.

This allows for more efficient production, an improved workability, and effective compaction at lower temperatures – which all helps highways contractors and network operators increase the volume of asphalt they can lay.

It also reduces project timescales, cuts labour and plant costs due to shorter programmes, minimises possession times, and lowers the carbon footprint of roads.

VPS Site Security and Costain – Wireless JCB Smart Towers

The need to protect a large, remote construction site for Costain’s Head of the Valley road improvement scheme led VPS Site Security to create an advanced JCB Smart Tower with wide-ranging applications for the industry.

The system for Costain deployed advanced CCTV that worked in all lights, transmitting detailed video to a purpose-built mobile monitoring station.

The wireless smart towers could be installed anywhere along the route of the road, no matter how remote, and were able to move as construction developed. 18 towers in total were deployed, networked wirelessly to provide protection.