New heavy vehicle response units to cut clearance times in Queensland from three hours to 45 minutes
New heavy vehicle response units will cut average clearance times from over three hours to less than 45 minutes, according to the Queensland Government.
The Queensland-constructed HVRUs, operational from next month, have the ability to remove immobilised, rolled or damaged vehicles off major roads through hydraulically controlled blades to clear road debris and winches and anchor points to assist with rolled trucks.
According to Queensland Premier Anna Bligh, who unveiled the machines in Brisbane yesterday, the introduction of HVRUs will go a long way to reducing congestion throughout South East Queensland, which has seen 176 major incidents involving heavy vehicles over the past year.
“These new specially-designed HVRUs will have significant impact on tackling congestion in Brisbane, cutting the time to move heavy vehicles and their loads from three hours to an average target time of 45 minutes,” Bligh says.
Set to deal with crashes along the Pacific Motorway and Bruce, Cunningham and Warrego Highways, Queensland Main Roads Minister Craig Wallace says the HVRUs will also mean the State Government is forced to rely on third parties to move trucks that have crashed.
“Previously, we had been reliant on owners of heavy vehicles or insurance providers to arrange removal and clear up of the vehicle and cargo, which could often take longer than three hours,” Wallace says.
Staff are currently being trained in the operation of the vehicles.