Wevelgem – Traficon, the worldwide leader in traffic video detection, is pleased to officially announce it has been awarded a contract by the Direction Inter-Départementale des Routes d’Ile-de-France (DIRIF) for delivering its automatic incident detection (AID)
solution in 22 tunnels in the Paris region.
Officially launched by the DIRIF in September 2008, this is the largest tunnel-surveillance
project of its type ever implemented in the world. Over the next three years, 1,400 cameras
linked to Traficon’s AID system will be installed to intensively
monitor traffic driving through the Paris region’s tunnels.
“The strength of this camera-based intelligent technology is its unique fast detection rate in
combination with the direct visual feedback,” explains Steve Collins, director of Traficon
France. “Thanks to this intelligent surveillance system, the operator is instantly warned about
any ‘abnormal traffic behaviour’ inside the tunnel and can quickly launch all necessary steps
to prevent an accident from escalating into a major tragedy.”
Today strict French regulations demand that tunnel safety is brought to the highest available
security standards. Every tunnel longer than 300m is required to be equipped with an
AID system to be able to detect all major incidents within seconds. This includes events such
as stationary vehicles, smoke, traffic congestion, wrong-way drivers, pedestrians and fallen
objects.
“We know the whole world will be watching the final outcome of this considerable and
essential tunnel project. So together with our partners Sdel, Satelec, Clemessy and Fareco,
we are all working hard to make the Paris region tunnels the safest in the world,” continues Collins. “With
more than 700 VIP-T incident detection boards already installed in 32 tunnels spread throughout
France, this field-proven module will definitely be capable of meeting the high-level
performance detection requirements.”
This large-scale tunnel modernisation project requires an investment of €600 million over
five years. The complete project includes eight phases. Currently the consortium of partners
is in the process of finalizing the first stage comprising the A86, A14 La Défense and Neuilly
tunnel complex.