Ineco is collaborating with Telefónica, Nokia, Stellantis, CTAG and SICE in the installation of sensors and 5G coverage in the Cereixal tunnel on the A-6 (Lugo) of the road network of the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda (MITMA), which represents a step towards a smart road that communicates with connected vehicles and thus offers driving assistance.

The Cereixal tunnel thus becomes the first in Spain to be connected to vehicles. This intelligent tunnel sends information to drivers about the weather conditions at the exit, road works, slow vehicle warnings, possible congestion, accident, obstacle on the road, presence of a pedestrian, vehicle in the opposite direction or sudden braking during their journey through the tunnel, as well as a warning of the entry of an emergency vehicle.

The initiative was presented today at a ceremony attended by representatives of all the companies involved, Isabel Rodríguez López, sub-delegate of the Government in Lugo, and Pablo Rivera Capón, deputy of the Economic and Social Promotion Area of the Lugo Provincial Council, accompanied by the mayor of the town of Becerreá, Manuel Martínez. The presentation was also attended by representatives of the General Directorate of Roads of MITMA. Ineco was represented by José Ángel Higueras, director of Roads, Mobility and Intermodality Business; Natalia Díaz, manager of Innovation; and Francisco Javier Carvajal, expert in Smart Products Management.

In this project, Ineco has developed a system capable of integrating all the information captured by the tunnel sensors and the weather station, as well as receiving, managing and sending all the events that are emitted or received by the connected vehicles. The development provides tunnel managers with a dashboard with all the necessary information, including live video images, to know in real time what is happening inside the infrastructure. As a result, those responsible for operations can have all the information centralised in the system; access it from any geographical location; interact with the vehicles/drivers themselves and, in short, carry out more efficient, faster, interactive and safer management.

"At Ineco, we apply the most cutting-edge technologies - such as 5G, IoT and the Digital Twin - to build the transport infrastructures of the future. We believe that to ensure safe, sustainable and connected mobility it is necessary to study all these new technologies, identify those developments that can bring the greatest benefit to society and apply them in innovation projects that demonstrate their viability. And that is precisely what we have done in the 5G tunnel projects, as well as in the 5G drone railway inspections project", commented José Ángel Higueras, director of the Roads, Mobility and Intermodality Business Unit at Ineco.

The project is being developed within the framework of Piloto 5G Galicia, promoted by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation through Red.es for the development of this technology in Spain through a public call for aid that is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and with the collaboration of the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda in its commitment to the digitisation of roads, especially in areas with such unique characteristics as tunnels that require very special attention.

More information on the application of 5G to the smart road here.