Geostängslade BK4-transporter vid bropassager och på tjälade vägar

Geofenced heavy trucks to protect bridges at crossings allowing higher weight on frozen roads Winter is our friend. When the road body is deep frozen it can handle more weight than during the rest of the year. However, the bridges are not affected by the cold weather, and they are therefore still vulnerable to increased loads. How can we allow increased loads on frozen roads while ensuring protection of the bridges? In this report, we share our insights from a project with the idea of using geofencing to protect the bridges. The geofencing technology ensures that the truck drives at a lower speed over the bridge and the bridge can withstand loads up to 74 tons since decreased speed reduces dynamic loads. If the road keeper can get guarantees that all heavy trucks drive at a low speed over the bridge, heavier traffic can be accommodated. This technology would of course also be beneficial to use across bridges in Europe regardless of the climate. ' The project “Frozen roads and 74 tons”, paid by the Swedish Transport Administration, consisted of three parts. One part was a pilot study during winter 22/23 demonstrating trucks from AB Volvo and Scania loaded with 74 tons using geofencing when the trucks passed over weak bridges. A speed limit, i.e. 50 km/h, was imposed in a zone around each bridge, whose coordinates were stored in the digital map accessible through the trucks’ Fleet Management System. Two different geofencing technologies were tested: on the one hand Scania’s system with “active” geofencing, where the truck was programmed to maintain the allowed speed over the bridge and calculated and implemented this itself (the driver could, however, override this by pushing the gas pedal to the floor); on the other hand AB Volvo’s system with “passive” geofencing, where the driver received a warning message when approaching the zone and would then slow down if necessary. The drivers were interviewed before and after the pilot about their experience. The results from