Sunstone delivers roadworks surveillance for Balfour Beatty.

Using Sunstone’s SICS units the highways main contractor has achieved surveillance coverage for a section of roadworks approx. 3km long without the need for ground works, cable runs or additional road closures.

The SICS unit delivers images back to the onsite monitoring team via a 3G/4G connection with high-level encryption. They can also operate on a wireless point to point or point to multi-point wireless mesh. Each unit is installed with a Tether Box, these link into an online viewing portal providing a very user-friendly tool to access images without the need for an additional VMS platform. Each user can be provided with full or restricted access to the cameras via password and there is a clear audit trail for any data captured.

Due to the distance between each camera Sunstone selected the Nautilus camera supplied by CBC UK. The camera not only offers exceptional HD image quality over a significant distance, it also operates with a low power draw making it ideal for a solar powered solution. Night-time images are also extremely clear as the cameras have long range Infrared and white light options which can be controlled remotely by an approved operator.
 
At a time where businesses look to cut their carbon footprint, Balfour Beatty leads the way in the Highways industry by using the SICS – a zero-emissions solution. At the time of writing the units have been fully operational with camera operators continuously working the PTZ functions for over 3 months, operating entirely on solar energy with no need for recharging or physical visits to the units. Sunstone’s remote health check software allows for power monitoring to take place offsite and any issues that may arise can be addressed before surveillance images are lost.
 
Sunstone CEO Paul Schelhaas said ‘Sunstone is committed to advancing robust, smarter surveillance and communications solutions, powered by renewable energy. It makes business sense for companies like Balfour Beatty not to be limited by cabled power sources and data lines, and our solutions enable businesses to reduce their carbon footprint’. Of the SICS he said ‘the SICS is perfect for use on Highways and proven to save money against alternative solutions. We are delighted that Highways England have approved this product for use on the UK’s road infrastructure and to be working with Balfour Beatty, such a key player in this sector. We will be trialing a Stopped Vehicle Detection solution on this site in the next few weeks to further enhance our technology.
 
The feedback from the Balfour Beatty project team on both the image quality provided and ease of use has been incredibly positive. One of the biggest advantages on a project like this has been the fact that the client operating team can deploy and reposition the units whenever they require without the presence of the Sunstone team reducing road closure time, reducing the health and safety risk onsite and allowing complete client autonomy.