The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) is activating a new warning system to reduce the likelihood of truck rollover crashes at the Capital Beltway and Rt. 236/Little River Turnpike. The interchange has been the site of several truck rollover accidents over the past 20 years.

VDOT contracted with Edwards and Kelcey of Morristown, New Jersey for installation of the Automatic Truck Rollover Warning System (ATRWS) to warn truck drivers of potential rollover hazards due to their excessive speeds when traveling these ramps.

The system consists of a series of acoustic sensors mounted on either existing overhead signs or on new, 20-foot tall aluminum monopoles. The sensors monitor the vehicles’ size, type and speed as they approach the ramps. If the system detects a truck traveling at a rate of speed higher than the posted speed, it immediately prompts a fiber optic display sign to activate and flash the message “Rollover Alert--Reduce Speed.”

The system is fully automatic and all equipment is housed in weatherproof, environmentally controlled cabinets. The system also incorporates two day/night cameras and high-speed communications lines that relay information to the warning signs and to VDOT’s Smart Traffic Center in Arlington.

Representative Frank Wolf obtained $190,000 in federal funding for the safety improvement system and VDOT contributed an additional $364,000 for the completion of the project.

A similar system which employed a combination of different technologies such as loop detectors, weigh-in-motion and height detection was installed on the I-495 East ramp to I-95 South and at the ramp from I-495 North to Rt. 123 north in 1994.

Page last modified: Jan. 7, 2003