Humber

UK’s building and civil engineering contractor Britcon has completed the installation of a new £5.5m toll collection facility on the Humber Bridge.

The new facility and HumberTag, a small tag deployed in the windscreen of the vehicle, allows drivers to cross the bridge by paying toll via electronic payments, which will lessen traffic disruption.

When the customer passes through the toll booths, the system automatically debits amount from a pre-registered account without interrupting the traffic.

Britcon managing director Paul Clarkson said: "The existing toll collection system was installed in 1981 and as such the technology was becoming obsolete and high maintenance.

"The new and innovative collection system includes one of the first open-road tolling arrangements to be installed in the UK, where vehicles do not need to stop while driving through the toll plaza. They are billed through electronic methods via tags tied to a Humber Bridge toll account."

"The project was a major undertaking that required extensive expertise in civil engineering and structural requirements to house world-leading technology."

Britcon undertook the works on behalf of Sociedad Ibérica de Construcciones Eléctricas (SICE), a consulting firm working with the Humber Bridge Board on intelligent transport and environmental control systems.

Under the contract, Britcon managed the decommissioning of the existing toll provision, supplying and installing a temporary toll system during the construction process, designing and constructing the new facility, making alterations to existing highway and open road toll lanes, building toll plaza housing structures and collecting system equipment.

SICE is currently installing the electronics and aims to complete it by mid-2015.

Clarkson added: "The project was a major undertaking that required extensive expertise in civil engineering and structural requirements to house world-leading technology.

"Our experience on such projects has allowed us to draw upon the specialist resources within the Britcon group and despite the scale of the project, we have maintained a delivery programme that is on time and on budget with minimal disruption."

Image: The Humber Bridge near Kingston upon Hull, East Riding in Yorkshire, UK. Photo: courtesy of Tonyharp.