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M62 - Your Local History
A lot of finds were uncovered during the archaeological evaluation carried out for the M62 Junction 6 Improvement scheme so we thought it would be nice to provide an interactive website so you can see what we found.
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Better information for your journey
The National Traffic Control Centre collects real-time information on road conditions
Quick Links
Don't Cross or Walk Along Motorways
The Highways Agency aims to make more people aware of the dangers of walking or crossing our motorway. We have launched a poster and radio campaign aimed at 16-25yr olds. Hopefully with our hard hitting posters, our message will come across.
Educating tomorrow's drivers
See how we are driving through key messages about safety on our network for the drivers of tomorrow.
Meet the Ancestors
Find out about the history of roads and the work the Agency does to preserve archaeological remains.
See when traffic will be lightest
Our traffic forecaster can help get you there quicker
Research Compendium
Glossary of Terms
| AASHTO | American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials |
| Abutment | A lateral support for for arch or bridge. |
| ACFM | Alternating Current Field Measurement |
| ACSM | Alternating Current Stress Measurement |
| AID | Automatic Incident Detection |
| AID | Automatic Incident Detection |
| AIL | Abnormal Indivisible Load |
| AIP | Approval In Principle |
| ANPR | Automatic Number Plate Recognition |
| APTF | Accelerated Pavement Test Facility |
| APTR | All-Purpose Trunk Road |
| ARCADY | A computer program used in the design of roundabouts |
| ASE | Aluminium Speciality Extrusions |
| ASRANeT | Advanced Structural and Reliability Analysis Network |
| AST | Appraisal Summary Table |
| ATM | ActiveTraffic Management |
| ATT | Advanced Transport Telematics |
| BA | Advisory notes for Highway Bridges and Structures |
| Back Analysis | A method of calculating the elastic moduli for the various layers of a pavement, normally using deflections measured by the Falling Weight Deflectometer to create a mathematical model of the pavement structure. |
| BACMI | British Aggregates Construction Materials Industries |
| BBA | British Board of Agreement |
| BCA | British Concrete Association |
| BD | Departmental Standard for Bridges |
| BD49 | Design rules for aerodynamic effects in bridges |
| BEM | A computer program designed to assess noise from traffic |
| Benchmarking | A standard by which something can be measured or judged. |
| Berm | A small soil embankment for stabilisation. |
| BRIME | Bridge Management in Europe |
| BS | British Standard |
| BSI | British Standards Institute |
| BTS Specification | British Tunnelling Society Model Specification for Tunnelling |
| BVPI | Best Value Performance Indicator |
| CBDG | Concrete Bridge Development Group |
| CBR | California Bearing Ratio test. A penetration type test for evaluating soils. |
| CCTV | Close Circuit Television |
| CDM | Construction (Design and Management) regulations |
| CEN | Centre Européene des Normes |
| CI | Condition Index |
| CIRIA | Construction Industry Research and Information Association |
| COBA | Cost Benefit Analysis |
| COMPARE | An early version of a Whole Life Cost Model which compares the costs of alternative tenders. |
| Continuum | A continuous extent, succession or whole that changes in character gradually or in very slight stages without any clear dividing points. |
| COST | Commission On Science and Technology |
| CPF | Controlled Permeability Formwork |
| CRC | Continuously Reinforced Concrete |
| CRCP | Continuous Reinforced Concrete Pavement |
| CRCR | Continuously Reinforced Concrete Roadbase |
| Creep Test | A laboratory test which measures the susceptibility to deformation of road binder and base material. |
| CRTN | Calculation of Road Traffic Noise. Published by HMSO (1988) |
| CSR | Corresponding Recording System |
| CSS | County Surveyors Society |
| Curviameter | A device for measuring vertical pavement deformation, giving a direct value of the maximum deflection and maximum curvature observed. |
| DBFO | Design, Build, Finance Operate |
| DERA | Defence Evaluation Research Agency now known as QINETIQ |
| DETR | Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions. Since renamed Department of Transport, Local Government and Regions. See DTLR |
| DFDOS | Distributed Fibre Optic Detection System |
| DIATS | Deployment of Inter-urban ATT Test Scenarios |
| DIVINE | Dynamic Interaction of Vehicle and Infrastructure Experiment |
| DMRB | Design Manual for Roads and Bridges |
| DOE | Department of the Environment |
| DOT | Department of Transport, renamed, see entry for DETR and DTLR |
| Dowel Bar | A metal bar connecting two concrete road slabs, to improve load spreading over the joint. |
| DRIVE | Dedicated Road Infrastructure for Vehicle safety in Europe |
| DRT | Displaced Right Turn |
| Dti | Department of Trade and Industry |
| DTLR | Department of Transport, Local Government and Regions |
| DVS | Digital Video System |
| EA | Environment Agency |
| ECOPAVE | A composite pavement design originating from joint UK/Danish research |
| Empirical | Verifiable or provable by means of practical experience and not theory. |
| EMS | Enhanced Message Signs |
| EPSRC | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council |
| ERTICO | European Road Transport Telematics Implementation Co-ordination Organisation |
| EU | European Union |
| EU DG | European Union Directorate General |
| Falling Weight Deflectometer | Generally a trailer mounted device towed behind a vehicle.The device drops a measured load and records the resulting deflections through the road layers. |
| FATCAT | Future Antenna Technologies for Cars And Trucks |
| FEHRL | Forum of European National Highway Research Laboratories |
| FILTER | FEHRL Investigation of Longitudinal and Transverse Evenness of Roads |
| Finite Element Analysis | A widely used method of structural analysis, Finite Element Analysis is a mathematical method that splits a continuum into small manageable elements and couples these elements together in order to analyse behaviour of the whole continuum. |
| FRP | Fibre Reinforced Plastics |
| Gaussing System | A piece of equipment which detects the position in space of metal items, using a magnetic field. |
| GIS | Geographical Information System |
| GNATA | Guidance on the New Approach To Appraisal |
| GOMMMS | Guidance On the Methodology for Multi-Modal Studies |
| HA | Highways Agency |
| HAGIS | A Geographical Information System used by the Highways Agency |
| HAPAS | Highway Authorities Product Approval Scheme |
| HAPMS | Highways Agency Pavement Management System |
| HARRIS | Highways Agency Road Research Information System |
| HB | Highway Bridges |
| HCD | Highway Construction Details |
| HETA | A database containing Highways Economics and Traffic Appraisal information. |
| HFS | High Friction Surfacing |
| HGV | Heavy Goods Vehicle |
| HIOCC | Highways Occupancy |
| HRM | High-speed Road Monitor |
| HRM | High-speed Road Monitor |
| ILE | Institution of Lighting Engineers |
| Indirect Tensile Test | A laboratory method of determining the load spreading ability of asphalt. |
| Invertebrate | An animal without a backbone, e.g. crayfish, amoeba |
| ISO | International Standards Organisation |
| ITS | Intelligent Transport Systems |
| Limit State Analysis | A method of structural design which provides a margin of safety against the least favourable conditions for the elements of the design. |
| LINK | A scheme for co-sponsorship of research by government and industry of which the DOT transport infrastructure and operation programme is a part |
| LTPP | Long Term Pavement Performance |
| LWAC | LightWeight Aggregate Concrete |
| Lysimeter test | Outdoor leaching or percolation experiments, consisting of a specially designed box which collects leachates. |
| Masonry Arch Bridge | An arched bridge constructed of pre-cut blocks of stone. |
| MCHW | Manual of Contract Documents for Highway Works |
| MCI | Migrating Corrosion Inhibitors |
| MCONTRM | A Motorway version of CONTRAM, a computer method for CONtinuous TRaffic Assignment and Monitoring |
| MIDAS | Motorway Incident Detection and Automatic Signalling |
| Mini-Vol | A portable 'gravimetric' air sampling device for measurement of environmental air quality |
| MOD | Ministry of Defence |
| MOLA | MCONTRM On-Line Assistant |
| MOLASSES | Monitoring Of Local Authority Safety SchemES |
| MORSE | Motoway Optimised Restricted Speed Experiment |
| Motorway Boxes | A motorway which circles a city or town, e.g. the M25 |
| MTV | Motorway Traffic Viewer |
| NAIS | Noise Assessment and Information System |
| NAQS | National Air Quality Strategy |
| NARNAS | National Roads Network Assessment System |
| NDT | Non Destructive Testing |
| NEWPAVE | A design for concrete overlays originating from joint UK/Danish/Portugese research |
| NII | Nuclear Installation Inspectorate |
| NMUs | Non Motorised Users |
| NNR | National Nature Reserve |
| O/D Matrix | Origin and Destination Matrix |
| OD | Operations Directorate |
| OECD | Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development |
| OR | Operational Regimes |
| Orthotropic | Of or relating to a bridge deck consisting of steel plates supported by ribs underneath. |
| Oscilloscope | An electronic instrument that produces an instantaneous trace on the screen of a cathode-ray tube corresponding to oscillations of voltage and current. |
| PANDEF | Software for the Processing and ANalysis of DEFlections |
| Parapet, containment | A normal containment parapet is a bridge parapet designed to resist penetration from a 1,500kg saloon car travelling at 113kmh/70mph. Low containment is for a 1,500kg saloon car travelling at 80kmh/50mph. |
| PEG | Pavement Engineering Group |
| PIARC | World Road Association (formerly, Permanent International Association of Road Congresses) |
| PIB | Price Information Base |
| PICADY | A computer program used in the design of junctions |
| Piezometer | An open-topped tube for measuring moderate water pressures, containing either water or kerosene for low, or mercury for higher pressures. |
| Pile | A timber, steel or concrete post driven or cast into unstable ground, to support a structure on the surface of the ground. |
| PMS | Pavement Mangement System |
| PMxx | Particulate with aerodynamic diameter of xx microns |
| PSV | Polished Stone Value |
| PTF | Pavement Test Facility |
| QA | Quality Audit |
| QPA | Quarry Products Association |
| QSCE | Quality Services Civil Engineering division |
| R&D | Research and Development |
| RA | Regional Agents |
| Raked Prop | A supporting prop placed at an angle. |
| RAV | Road Assessment Vehicle |
| RBA | Refined Bitumen Association |
| Regression Analysis | The use of regression to make quantitative predictions of one variable from the values of another. |
| Repeated Load Axial Test - RLAT | A laboratory test which measures the resistance to deformation (rutting) of asphalt samples. |
| Rheology | The study of the deformation and flow of matter. |
| RIDDOR | Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurences Regulations |
| RMPS | Ramp Metering Pilot Scheme |
| RTA | Road Traffic Advisor |
| SACTRA | Standing Committee on Trunk Road Assessment |
| SCBSR | HA Steering Committee for Bridge Safety and Reliability |
| SCRIM | Sideways Force Coefficient Routine Investigation Machine, a device for measuring the skid resistance of road surfacings. |
| SHRP | United States Strategic Highway Research Program |
| SHW | Specification for Highway Works |
| SISTM | A computer program for the investigation of traffic flow |
| SLVR | Safety, Layout and Vehicle Restraint |
| SMA | Stone Mastic Asphalt |
| SMIS | Structure Management Information System |
| SPB | Statistical pass-by method for measuring traffic noise |
| SPTD | Sand Patch Texture Depth |
| SSSI | Site of Special Scientific Interest |
| STATS19 | A database of injury accident statistics recorded by police officers attending accidents |
| SV | Single Vehicle |
| TAME | Traffic Appraisal Modelling and Economics |
| TCC | Traffic Control Centres |
| TD | Technical Directories |
| TEOM | 'Tapered-Element Oscillating Microbalance' A sampling device for the measurement of enviromental air quality. |
| TIH | Traffic Information Highway |
| TRACS | TRAffic speed Condition Survey |
| Triple Package | Incident detection combined with cabling infrastructure and gantry signs. Used in the context of Advanced Traffic Management. |
| TRITON | Tyre-Road Interaction Testing Of Noise. A research machine, developed to measure tyre-road noise. |
| TRL | Transport Research Laboratory |
| TRMM | Trunk Road Maintenance Manual |
| TSE | Traffic Safety and Environment |
| TSS | Traffic System Signing |
| TTR | Transport and Travel Research Ltd |
| UDL | Uniformly Distributed Load |
| UKPMS | United Kingdom Pavement Management System (developed jointly by DOT and Local Authorities) |
| ULM | An ultra thin asphalt surfacing developed in France (ULtra-Mince). |
| USA | United States of America |
| UTB | Understanding Travel Behaviour |
| VASP | Value Added Service Providers |
| VE | Value Engineering |
| VET | Vehicles - Environment and Taxation |
| VM | Value Management |
| VMS | Variable Message Sign |
| VR | Virtual Reality |
| VWF | Vehicle Wear Factor |
| Walking Profilometer | A device for measuring surface profile or evenness. |
| WERD | Western European Road Directors |
| Wheel-tracking test | A simulative laboratory test consisting of a fixed loaded wheel on a sample of road surfacing material held on a table moving to and fro, in order to measure the rate of rut development. |
| WIM | Weigh In Motion |
| WLC | Whole Life Cost |




