HW Martin (Traffic Management) Ltd’s has been recognised for its innovative approach to sustainability, winning the Best Use of Technology: Carbon Reduction in Construction and Management Award at TechFest 2024.
Working collaboratively with Morgan Sindall, Fewzed and sister company, Virtus Ltd, the team implemented the Sign Asset Monitoring System (SAMS) on both the A12 and M27 projects. This collaboration showcases how sharing best practices can lead to even greater benefits across multiple schemes.
The SAMS is a cutting-edge solution designed to meet key goals: reducing carbon emissions, lowering costs and improving safety. The system tracks traffic management assets, such as sign frames, in real-time while optimising their performance.
One of the SAMS’ most significant achievements is its impact on carbon reduction. By enabling remote site monitoring and encouraging an exception-based maintenance response, the need for frequent site visits is drastically reduced. This led to a 35% decrease in fuel consumption linked to maintenance operations.
On the A12 project alone, SAMS prevented 1,092 site visits, saving 5.61 tonnes of carbon – equivalent to 44,810km of driving, 2,244 litres of fuel and 729 hours of driving. Following this success, the system was implemented on the M27 where it is expected to save 127 tonnes of carbon over the 8km scheme by avoiding more than 8,000 site visits.
The benefits of the SAMS go beyond carbon savings. It has also significantly improved hazard management. Issues such as fallen signs, which previously took hours to detect, are now identified in real time, reducing response times by 50%. For example, in a municipal road network in London, SAMS deployment led to a 30% drop in incidents related to faulty signage within six months.
Judges at TechFest praised the SAMS for its “simplicity and scalability”, describing it as an “elegant approach” with the potential for national application. They also commended its forward-thinking design and ability to deliver long-term environmental and operational benefits.
Looking ahead, SAMS is set to expand further. As organisations prioritise sustainability, SAMS is well-positioned to become a vital tool for tracking carbon offsets and supporting infrastructure projects aligned with global environmental goals.