Halton Borough Council
Aerelink CCTV Connectivity Reduces Traffic Jams
Aerelink, the UK's leading connectivity integrator, has provided Halton Borough Council with an innovative CCTV connectivity solution. This will assist the Council to reduce congestion at a major traffic black-spot: Runcorn-Widnes Bridge.
The Client
Halton Borough Council has responsibilities on both sides of the River Mersey in the North West. It is made up of the twin towns of Widnes and Runcorn together with many villages. Halton is an urban, industrial area, which is home to major chemical and manufacturing businesses.
The Requirement
The Government recognises the effect of congestion on commuters and businesses. The Traffic Management Act was introduced to address this issue demanding that local authorities provide information on traffic build-up to the public.
To comply with the Act, Halton Borough Council investigated a solution that would allow them to publish real time images to their web site from one of the North West's congestion hotspots - Silver Jubilee Bridge (commonly known as Runcorn-Widnes Bridge).
This is the primary route for commuters between Liverpool and Cheshire with over 90,000 vehicles crossing the bridge everyday - and is notorious for major hold-ups in both directions.
However, transmission of images from cameras was a barrier. The Bridge had no communications infrastructure that could be utilised, with power only available for lighting within its structure (steel and highway).
Specifically, the Council required a solution to:
- Enable video images to be 'reliably' captured from both directions,
- Provide private bandwidth for high resolution images to be distributed back to the Council,
- Not cause any disruption during installation,
- Be fully operational for use within 4 weeks.
"The Council now enjoys a very cost effective solution that they own. This network is expandable as the connectivity provided has the potential to transmit images from more cameras if required - with no degradation to the quality."
The Solution
Aerelink has worked with the Council for a number of years and was very familiar with connectivity for outdoor video - not just voice and data.
The location of the cameras was crucial. It was essential that they were positioned to relay the most valuable images - yet still provide cost effective connectivity and zero disruption during implementation.
It was important to explore the full range of possibilities and a shortlist of Private Fibre and Microwave Radio was subsequently compiled.
Fibre was discounted as it would have been disruptive requiring civil work.
The radio options included point-to-point and point-to-multipoint unlicensed 5.8GHz and the higher bandwidth licensed microwave radio technologies. The bandwidth requirements did not justify the increase in cost of the higher bandwidth licensed radios - similar to those deployed by Aerelink for Emergency Services and Health organisations.
After objectively considering the various options with the customer, it was agreed to formalise a design. Aerelink's design utilised two separate point-to-point 5.8GHz 28Mbps licence-free radios at each end of the bridge. These both had two IP MPEG4 cameras focusing in opposite directions.
The two Axis cameras at each end are connected via two separate Alvarion BreezeNET Links.
By using two separate links at opposite ends of the bridge the Council now has resilience as well as cost effective bandwidth for 'multiple', excellent quality, moving images.
The installation was carried out off-peak and close liaison with the Council ensured features of the Bridge could be utilised with Safe Working practices remaining the priority.
The Benefits
Aerelink designed an innovative and considered solution. This has enabled Halton Borough Council to enjoy a very cost effective solution that exceeded their expectations in terms of performance, reliability and scalability.
The complete installation was project managed to ensure the need for co-ordination with Council resources and compliance with Council procedures were seamless.
The deadline of completion before the end of March 2006 was never in question and this has allowed the Council to meet obligations under the Traffic Management Act.
