The safety of a 10km access road travelled by United Paper Mills (UPM) workers in Uruguay will be assessed for safety as part of an iRAP Strategic Project in association with the Automobile Club of Uruguay (ACU).

UPM is planning the construction of a plant nursery, in which seedlings will be sown and grown, for planting in areas defined by the environmental planning processes and to supply its pulp mills, located in Centenario and Fray Bentos.

The plant nursery, located approximately 9 km from Sarandí del Yi, is an essential industrial development, requiring the continuous transport of inputs and seedlings to and from the planting sites, through companies who specialise in forest loading and transport.

To support the development, UPM has commissioned the star rating assessment of a 9 km stretch of Route 6 to understand travel risk and inform safety improvements. The work also includes a 1 km section of Avenida Héctor Petrini, in Sarandí del Yí, for a total of 10.3 km.

ACU will survey the road using a vehicle equipped with a single GoPro and supply supporting data such as vehicle flow, speeds and crashes divided by road user type.

The iRAP Strategic Projects team will use the data to generate Star Ratings for road user groups and present the results and recommendations for safety improvements to UPM management this month.

The results will inform UPM’s health and safety programme and works planning.

Image source: ACU