Northern expressway launches intelligent system

Last week Minister of Transport Dinh La Thang launched the world-class ITS bought by state highway construction giant Vietnam Expressway Corporation (VEC).

“The cutting-edge oversight system will help the transport sector and the developer improve the usage and management of the highway toward safe transport,” he said.

The ITS system, housed in the expressway’s Management Centre in Ha Nam province, is charged with controlling traffic, reducing accidents and congestion, protecting highway assets, increasing efficiency, and generally maximising transport on the road.

The system was developed by a consortium consisted of Hanoi-based Control-Automation Software JSC (CADPRO) and China’s Guangxi Transportation Research Institute. It was developed under the Engineering-Procurement-Construction (EPC) model.

“This gives us control of conditions and activities of the road in any kind of weather,” said VEC’s general director Mai Tuan Anh.

VEC Operation and Maintenance (VEC O&M) is responsible for managing the highway. Lieutenant-General Deputy Chief Do Dinh Nghi from the Police General Department for Management of Social Order and Safety threw his support behind the system, saying that it empowers both police and system managers in closely overseeing the road.

“If necessary, technical staff can track vehicles’ plate numbers from the time they enter the highway to the time they leave,” said a CADPRO source.

“This system combined with smooth teamwork between the road management group and transport police can make the Cau Gie-Ninh Binh expressway the safest road in Vietnam,” said the deputy chief of office of the National Committee for Transport Safety Vu Quy Phi.

The expressway started construction in 2006 and went into use in June 2012.

The highway runs between Hanoi, Ha Nam, Nam Dinh, and Ninh Binh and has successfully reduced traffic volume on National Highway 1A’s Hanoi-Ninh Binh section.