Intelligent Low Bridge Warning Solution

AI-Powered Height Detection for HGVs, Coaches and Double-Deckers

Bridge strikes are one of the most preventable — and most disruptive — incidents on UK roads. The Intelligent Low Bridge Warning Solution combines AI vision, GPS, and a live bridge database to warn drivers before they reach a bridge their vehicle can’t clear, giving them time to stop or divert.

The Scale of the Problem

Bridge strikes aren’t rare accidents — they’re a routine, costly, and largely preventable failure of driver awareness:

  • ~1,800 vehicle-bridge collisions per year in the UK
  • 5 bridge strikes happen, on average, every single day
  • £23 million in annual cost from bridge strike incidents
  • Each incident causes over 2 hours of delay and disruption
  • 56% of drivers admit to ignoring low bridge risk when planning routes
  • 32% don’t know their own vehicle’s height
  • 31% report receiving no guidance from their employer

Existing solutions fall short: gantries give no active warning, pure GPS systems generate false alarms from inaccurate mapping data, and lidar height-detection systems are expensive and prone to missed alarms.

How It Works

The solution pairs the C40W AI camera unit with the R-Watch in-cab alert device, fusing AI vision recognition with GPS positioning and a database of over 2,000 mapped low bridge locations in London alone.

  1. AI Vision Algorithm reads height-limit signs directly from the road — triangle and square sign formats, gantries (steel and cement structure), with automatic filtering of non-hazard gantries
  2. GPS Data cross-references vehicle position against known low bridge locations
  3. Combined AI + GPS warning delivers the highest accuracy; the system still functions using AI-only or GPS-only recognition where one data source isn’t available
  4. Two-stage alerts — a yellow warning when a bridge is detected, escalating to a red warning and audible alert when a dangerous (too-low) bridge is detected

Accuracy

  • Up to 90% height-limit sign recognition accuracy
  • 50m measurement range
  • Functions across four detection scenarios (AI + GPS + sign, AI + sign only, GPS only, AI only) with pre-warning and warning stages for each

RFID Auto Height Detection for Trailers

For operators running trailers or articulated combinations, the RFID option automatically reads trailer height from tagged trailers as they’re coupled — so the system always knows the correct height for the current combination, even when trailers are swapped between tractor units.

Two Solution Options

Adaptive Vehicle Height (Slave Version) C40W + R-Watch + RFID Reader/Tag + GPS, integrated with your existing MDVR — height is automatically read and updated as trailers change.

Fixed Vehicle Height (Standalone Version) C40W + R-Watch + Keyboard + GPS — a self-contained system where vehicle height is entered and calibrated manually via keyboard, independent of any existing telematics system.

System Boundaries

Parameter Limit
Bridge height detection range 2m – 5m
Vehicle speed (daytime) Up to 40 km/h
Vehicle speed (nighttime) Up to 25 km/h
Sign condition Must not be blocked, damaged, or missing

Certification

CE, FCC-SDoC, ROHS, REACH, E-mark

Talk to us about protecting your fleet — and your bridges — from strikes.