Tech – Metro | Robots are painting lines on Britain’s motorways and reducing traffic jams

The WJ Robotic PreMarker, a robot which marks out where white lines need to be painted on motorways and major A-roads (Source: PA)

Hundreds of hours of disruption on England's busiest roads are being avoided due to a robot, it has been claimed.

The machine marks out where white lines need to be painted on motorways and major A-roads much quicker than humans, according to Highways England.

It recently pre-marked eight miles of the M6 in Staffordshire in just four hours whereas it would normally take two engineers more than a week to complete the same task, the government-owned company said.

The robot has also been deployed on Britain's biggest road upgrade – the £1.5 billion A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon scheme.

Marking out where white lines need to be painted on new and resurfaced roads usually involves calculating positions and walking several miles to spray or chalk lines.

In addition to saving man-hours, Highways England said the robot also provides a safety benefit by reducing the time road workers are exposed to the risk of an accident on carriageways.

The robots perform a task which is usually carried about by a human (Source: PA)

The robot's efforts could cut down on traffic jams (Source: PA)

Around 250 vehicles are illegally driven into roadworks every month, according to figures provided by the firm.

Julian Lamb, construction director on the A14 scheme, said: "We're always looking at innovative new ways of working which can help road users and make our projects more efficient while supporting improved engineering.

'With safety our top priority, the time savings the robot can provide – coupled with removing our operatives from a potentially hazardous situation – make it a great solution.'

Specialist contractor WJ, which adopted the technology, has invested in a second robot to complete more of its work.

WJ Group managing director Wayne Johnston said: 'I am passionate about changing the way we work in this industry and the WJ Robotic PreMarker represents a real step change.'

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