The Borough of Poole on the south coast of England relies on six Bosch MIC series cameras to monitor land and sea traffic on and around the Twin Sails Bridge.

Keeping watch over the newly constructed Twin Sails Bridge in the small town of Poole, on the south coast of England, are six Bosch Security Systems cameras, monitoring all who pass —whether by vehicle, by foot or even by boat passing below the bridge’s deck.

Echoing Poole’s maritime history and forming part of the borough’s landmark regeneration project, the Twin Sails Bridge takes its name from the iconic shape of a yacht’s sails formed when its two triangular lifting leaves are in the up position. More important than its design, the bridge also serves two chief functions: providing access to a large regeneration site in the southeast and relieving traffic in the borough as a much-needed additional harbor crossing point.

Poole’s choice of video equipment supplier and installer for the new bridge was Quadrant Security Group (QSG), the borough’s resident video surveillance contractor. QSG chose the six Bosch stainless steel MIC series cameras. The project manager was Russell Kitson, who says durability and previous experience were behind the selection.

“The environment of the Twin Sails Bridge demands a robust and reliable model of CCTV camera to work effectively in challenging conditions,” he said. “We have worked with Bosch cameras on multiple occasions and know them well, so we recognized that the ruggedness and high quality of Bosch’s MIC series would be particularly suitable for a project of this nature.”

Bosch’s ruggedized MIC series PTZ cameras have been engineered to meet exacting standards, with IP68 liquid protection. The corrosion-resistant properties of its grade 316L stainless-steel housing offer protection in harsh environments, including marine applications like the Twin Sails Bridge, where high salt content in the air can dramatically reduce a camera’s lifespan.

Because the cameras are monitoring so much activity on and around the Twin Sails Bridge, durability was extremely important.

“During working hours all six cameras transmit images back to the quayside control room, from where the bridge is operated, and out of hours, the CCTV footage is sent to the Civic Center, which shares responsibility for bridge control,” Kitson said. “Two of the cameras are positioned to monitor vessels passing underneath the bridge; one views vessels coming into the Poole basin, and one watches those going back out to sea. The other four cameras are positioned on top of high level bridge totems and survey the traffic and pedestrians using the bridge, serving as a safety precaution as it is raised and lowered.”

The MIC series uses brushless motor technology to enable quiet operation, with full 360-deg. continuous-rotation pan and 270-deg. tilt control. Small increment pan/tilt speeds are designed to provide users with precise control, which is important for tracking objects or subjects when the camera is fully zoomed in.