Enhancing Driver Safety and Maintenance on Italy's A12 Motorway with Wonderware Software

Italy’s A12 motorway takes drivers from Genoa through Tuscany and then on to Rome. It's a beautiful region, and the road challenges drivers with high speeds, hilly terrain, 24 tunnels, and more than 45 miles of “B-class mountain” roads. Società Autostrada Ligure Toscana p.a., or S.A.L.T., is responsible for managing the A12. With the primary goals of improving safety, reducing energy use and lowering overall maintenance costs, S.A.L.T. uses Wonderware® software for remote monitoring and control.

“Adopting an industry grade automation solution was the first step to the successful implementation of a project characterized by a large number of controls, and mostly, by the need to guarantee uninterrupted operation.”
– Eraldo Benedetto, Automation Manager, Giordano & C. S.p.A.

Lighting & Ventilation – With 24 tunnels, lighting is critical to driver safety. Proper levels of visibility must be assured in relation to current weather conditions and time of day. Critical lighting processes are automated and controlled using Wonderware System Platform. Proper ventilation is also essential, as concentrations of exhaust gas can quickly build up in busy tunnels, reducing visibility and making air unbreathable. With Wonderware software applications, operators can determine the proper air extraction direction according to environmental conditions outside the tunnel, enabling efficient removal of noxious fumes.

Emergencies – In case of emergencies, the control room operator in charge of launching rescue operations is informed about current events through a highly intuitive alarm system. High-resolution graphics provided by Wonderware InTouch® HMI deliver clear visualization on the operator panel of any system failure or issues on the roadway such as a car crash, enabling the operator to immediately summon skilled workers or rescue squads.

Maintenance – All equipment, from lamps to fans, is monitored remotely from the control room in Viareggio, where two redundant servers store data collected via Wonderware Historian. Using a dedicated optical fiber link, information is collected by PLCs that supervise the operation of each system locally. This provides control room staff with critical information on the condition of any piece of equipment in real time.

The ability of the S.A.L.T. team to remotely control the entire system using Wonderware technology has been key to successfully managing this complex motorway system. Wonderware industrial applications have enabled the real-time management of intricate activities, especially under emergency conditions.

For more information, read the success story or visit our Transportation Industry page or Wonderware Software page on software.invensys.com.

Managing Road Infrastructure in Italy

Tecnositaf, a SITAF S.p.A. company, is an integrated engineering company based in Italy that designs, develops and manages systems and tools for mobility control, road, rail and industrial safety. Invensys and Tecnositaf experience and technologies were combined to ensure maximum safety for drivers along Italy's A32 Torino-Bardonecchia motorway infrastructure, a major road connecting Italy to France.
 

 

 When traveling on a motorway, drivers are particularly concerned with traffic and road conditions, but their safety depends on an almost invisible technology infrastructure that needs to always be working. In order to ensure safety, improve service levels and limit maintenance costs, SITAF (Società Italiana Traforo Autostradale del Fréjus), as contractor, invested in the expansion of the technology infrastructure. Influencing the decision was the fact that 18 of the 73 kms are tunnels, a potentially hazardous environment for vehicles and a place where rescue interventions are extremely difficult.

Constant event monitoring and automated management systems were key requirements. Invensys Wonderware System Platform and InTouch HMI (Human Machine Interface) represented the ideal solution for supervising the entire road section. The solution is particularly innovative, as it allows SITAF the freedom of customizing the application in order to develop all the necessary controls, as well as to reach the expected integration level, all while providing a reliable solution.

“We invested in the deployment of the most modern systems available on the market today, developing solutions enabling us to go far beyond international standards.” –  Giuseppe Celia Magno, Sales and Quality Manager, Tecnositaf

For more information, read the complete success story here and/or access any of our Wonderware Transportation Industry success stories.