EHIGHWAY. The semi-annual maintenance of the eHighway test track on the A1 between the Lübeck and Reinfeld interchange took place in mid-April, which was then also used by the scientists to carry out further research installations and inspect existing ones.

As part of the maintenance work, visual and functional inspections as well as component checks were carried out on the entire overhead line system. This allows damage, wear and other anomalies to be identified and ensures the high availability of the system. The activities include measuring the contact wire position, checking and cleaning the installed insulators and disconnectors as well as checking the research installations. The audits, which are carried out by the Nahverkehr Schwerin GmbH and FuE-Zentrum FH Kiel GmbH did not give rise to any objections.

On the research side, the FuE-Zentrum FH Kiel GmbH installed acceleration sensors on the overhead lines in order to monitor the movements of the contact wires. The aim is to detect anomalies in the vibration behavior, which can, for example, be detected by the should an object get caught in the overhead line. This means that checks can be carried out more accurately and reaction times for necessary measures can be shortened.

In addition, the Technical University of Dresden, together with Siemens Mobility GmbH, inspected and sampled the insulators installed there in detail at the leakage current measurement locations. The aim is to gain knowledge about the aging behavior of insulators under the challenging weather conditions on the motorway (including road salt mist) and to incorporate this into ongoing standardization processes for insulators.

By combining maintenance and research work, the least possible disruption to road traffic on the eHighway test track is achieved.