Renewable CCTV Tower

Farrans Roadbridge Joint Venture (FRJV) has been tasked with the construction of a 3.8km bypass around the town of Dalry, North Ayrshire, Scotland. One of the many challenges of managing a site this large is trying to protect theft or damage to our high value plant and materials outside of normal working hours.

Mains power is supplied to the main compound, of which there are two, and are under 24-hour surveillance. Unfortunately, isolated locations out with the compound areas were vulnerable to theft taking place. As a result, FRJV, along with our security company Safer Scotland, discussed options for securing these isolated locations on the site without the need to install a generator to power a standard camera system.

The system developed is a trailer based mobile CCTV Surveillance Unit, which is designed to be easily moved from point to point as the works progress and to be self sufficient all year round on renewable energy – even in Scottish winters. Hugely important to the solution is that we can run a fully featured CCTV system including long range infra-red, detection mechanisms and remote communications all built into a secure housing within the unit. To achieve this the unit is equipped with 500W of PV Solar Modules and a 500W Deployable Wind Turbine. This combined with a smart charging system and specific batteries designed for reliable outdoor use means that the system has enough power to operate year-round and can technically go for days without sunlight or wind. The mast, solar panels and wind turbine all extend during deployment and retract for transport and storage.

The successful use of this equipment has eliminated the necessity for an increased mobile security presence on site and eliminates nuisance caused by the operation of a generator required to power a standard CCTV system. The use of renewable energy to provide surveillance out of hours to isolated site locations is not only cost effective to Farrans Roadbridge but also promotes the positive use of renewable sources during the build phase of a major project!