Smart Highway with well-groomed Solutions

The project is aimed at using different technologies to create the "interactive and sustainable roads of tomorrow."

Instead of building eco-friendly vehicles, how about making the highways themselves solar-powered and sustainable? A smart highway is the answer. Smart highway and smart road are terms for a number of different proposals to incorporate technologies into roads for generating solar energy, for improving the operation of autonomous cars, for lighting, and for monitoring the condition of the road. One such project has been piloted in Dutch city of Oss, Netherlands.

This project was developed by ‘Daan Roosegaarde and Heijmans Infrastructure’. The goal was to make smart roads by using light, energy and road signs that interact with the traffic situation.

Back in 2012, a collaborative concept by Studio Roosegaarde and Heijmans Infrastructure imagined a smarter highway complete with glow-in-the-dark roads, interactive lighting and an induction priority lane for electric vehicles. Two years later, the smart highway of the future is finally being put to the test, at least in part. As reports say, a 1,640-foot stretch of highway in the Netherlands is being equipped with road markings that can glow in the dark. The design includes road markings with "dynamic paint" that has a "special foto-luminising powder" that charges during sunlight hours and lets off light at night.

Drivers on a road in the Netherlands are now being guided by glow-in-the-dark road markings. The N329 in Oss is being used to pilot the concept, which is part of the Smart Highway project by construction firm Heijmans and Roosegaarde.

The Smart Highway nomenclature is perhaps a little misleading, as none of the concepts that come under its umbrella involve internet connectedness, but they are certainly smart in the sense of being clever. The project is aimed at using different technologies to create the "interactive and sustainable roads of tomorrow."

Glowing Lines

Glowing Lines uses luminescent paint that is charged by solar energy during the day and then glows for up to 10 hours when it gets dark. This means that the road markings have higher visibility than those using standard paint, whilst still not requiring electricity. Glowing Lines are lines that charge at day-time, and glow at night for eight hours. The first road has been realised, and will be further launched international. Here the landscape becomes an experience of light and information. As a result this increases visibility and safety. The technical development of the idea has started and several versions have been tested in durability and user experience. This comes now to result in Oss as a matured design. When driving in the dark Roosegaarde describes it as ‘going through a fairy tale’.

The concept itself has been developed through several iterations and has been tested for durability and user experience. As such, the Oss pilot should primarily provide information on how well it works on a day-to-day basis in a real-world setting. As mentioned, there are a number of other concepts under the Smart Highway umbrella yet to be piloted. Dynamic Paint envisages the use of temperature sensitive paint on the roads to provide contextual information. For example, if it were to be very cold, then the usually transparent paint would become visible and display warning messages.

Interactive light seeks to detect where cars are on a road and then light only the sections of the road around and in front of them. The aim of this would be to reduce the use of electricity by dimming lighting where roads are empty. Induction Priority Lane, meanwhile, proposes a lane with electric vehicle charging technology embedded under the road surface, whilst Wind Light envisions turbines at the side of the road that generate electricity for lighting using the wind caused by passing cars. Assuming the pilot is successful, there are plans to roll-out Glowing Lines globally.

New designs include Dynamic Paint, Interactive Light, Induction Priority Lane and Road Printer. The collaboration between Roosegaarde and Heijmans is a true example of innovative industries.The design and interactivity from Studio Roosegaarde and the craftsmanship of Heijmans are fused into one common goal: innovation of the Dutch landscape. The Smart Highway isn’t a completely new road, but rather, a kit of parts that can be applied to existing roads as needed. For example, something the designers call "Dynamic Paint" communicates with drivers about weather and traffic changes.

 When the temperature drops under freezing and the roads become slick, the paint would activate, covering the road with a dusting of bright cartoon snowflakes. Similarly, a glow-in-the-dark paint treated with photo-luminizing powder could reduce the need for auxiliary lighting. Charged in day light, the glow-in-the-dark road illuminates the contours of the road at night for up to 10 hours.

Dynamic Paint

The dynamic paint concept would be fairly simple to implement, though the cute snowflakes will probably be value-engineered out—a simple color-coded warning system would work just as well. Inductive charging, though, is a more complex proposition. I’m no expert on the technology, but from what I understand, it’s already being tested by researches in South Korea.

But as some experts have pointed out, induction charging technology requires plenty of metals and materials like lithium, which is already in high demand. To supply enough just for Holland, the densest highway network in the EU, manufacturers would have to scale up their production exponentially, and it would be expensive. Still, it’s a promising idea—and critics probably did similar naysaying about asphalt back in 1870. Asked about how much smart highways will cost, Roosegarde jokes, "it would be more expensive than a current road, but less expensive than building a new planet Earth."

Van Gogh Bicycle Path

The new Van Gogh-Roosegaarde bicycle path is made of thousands glowing stones inspired by 'Starry Night'. The path charges at daytime and glows at night. Here innovation and cultural heritage are combined in the city of Nuenen NL, the place where Van Gogh lived in 1883. This is the second concept of Smart Highway, the interactive and sustainable roads of today. Designer Daan Roosegaarde and Heijmans Infrastructure develop roads that are sustainable and smart by using new technologies and designs.

Additional Features of Smart Highway

Dynamic paint

Temperature-controlled marking lights up and becomes transparent again, depending on temperature. The marking warns road users when the road deck can be slippery. Drivers experience direct interaction with the road deck.

Electric Priority Lane

Induction charging offers electric cars the possibility to charge themselves while driving. Electric priority lanes stimulate sustainable transportation.

Interactive light

Interactive lighting is controlled by sensors: it only turns on when traffic approaches. It is a sustainable and cost-saving alternative to continuous lighting. Interactive lighting can also provide speed guidance.

Dynamic Lines

Road deck markings can be flexibly adjusted, to show a continuous line or a dotted line. Dynamic traffic control can be achieved and adjustable depending on the situation. Dynamic Lines contribute to capacity management.

Van Gogh bicycle path

Innovative bicycle path is a unique design comprising thousands of sparkling stones, creating patterns that charge during the day and emit light during the evening. The Van Gogh bicycle path makes use of the light-emitting techniques of the Smart Highway concept. Interplay of light and poetry and a modern interpretation to Vincent van Gogh. Cultural heritage and innovation merge in this new, public landscape.

References:

http://www.zdnet.com/article/glowing-highway-unveiled-in-the-netherlands/

http://www.smarthighway.net/

http://www.smarthighway.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/persbericht-lancering-Glowing-Lines-def-ENG-website.pdf

http://www.fastcodesign.com/1671097/smart-cars-pshaw-dutch-designers-aim-to-reinvent-the-highway

https://www.studioroosegaarde.net/project/smart-highway/info/