EasyWynd

Highways England have selected to trial the NAL EasyWynd® to assist in the maintenance of radar repeaters secured on 115mm diameter poles, situated on junction 7 of the M5 in Worcester.

Collaboration with an experienced traffic signal team leader, of a construction and highways services group, has enabled NAL to develop EasyWynd®. Designed and manufactured in direct response to risks associated with working from height, highlighted and faced by traffic signal engineers, EasyWynd® eradicates these risks to personnel when maintaining various equipment including, wimag repeaters, CCTV, detection appliances and base stations, when bolted on to highway structures.

Thanks to its unique hinged design, the system incorporates a 2 metre extension pole, of which a variety of equipment can be mounted to. The extension pole is secured to a hinged arm, which can be lowered to, and raised from ground level, with the use of a crank handle. Accommodating both round and square poles, the EasyWynd® system can also be retrofitted with ease and speed utilising a standard U-bolt.

Radar repeaters can require regular maintenance in terms of alignment or battery related issues. In their trial of EasyWynd®, Highways England were able to remove their usual requirement of a MEWP to conduct maintenance, which in turn ensured no road closures were necessary, causing minimal disruption to commuters, not to mention the beneficial impact this afforded in terms of expenditure and time. Previous health and safety concerns faced by personnel were effectively minimised as engineers were able to carry out necessary works safely and in less time at ground level, as opposed to historically working at height.