Simplify Lighting
Maintenance/Replacement


 


 

A Quick-disconnect Fixture Lowering System

 

  
  • Safe and simple ground level installation,
    maintenance or replacement

     
  • Costly and cumbersome lift trucks eliminated

     
  • Eliminates design constraints with regard to location or mounting height
 
  • Maintenance cost drastically reduced
     
  • Reduces Risk to motorists during servicing
     
  • The field proven lowering system in use within the DOT
     
  • Special designed molded pin and socket connector rated for 600 volts
 

AN INNOVATIVE HIGHWAY LIGHTING CONCEPT

Traffic and maintenance engineers are given the tasks of maintaining traffic signals and lighting systems in congested traffic areas. When maintenance is needed, some system components, such as signal heads, require a disruption of traffic flow because of their location and function. Other components, such as lighting luminaires, can be located on the edge, or in a median, of a traveled way. This means that while the system components are over the shoulder of a roadway, lane closures are almost always necessary to protect oncoming traffic from outriggers and the articulated boom movement of the bucket trucks commonly used for servicing. As well, an additional heavy truck with flashing signs frequently is placed upstream from a maintenance location to protect workers from serious injury if motorists do not recognize a temporary lane closure. Traffic control is time consuming, disruptive to traffic flow and hence, costly.  		 

 

A product which has been used for many years in industrial wiring systems has been redesigned recently for use in the transportation field. This lowering device allows a fixture to be detached from its position atop a pole - up to 140 feet high - and lowered on a stainless steel cable to ground level for maintenance. The contact unit at the top of the pole contains a specially designed electrical disconnect - a contact suspension system - that accommodates common highway lighting needs. 

Luminaires for low-mast operations have adjustable reflectors so that the 'throw' of the light can be adjusted to different lighting patterns for any lighting situation. Other features are: Greater efficiency because reflectors can be positioned so that the lighting source can be placed as much as 30 to 40 feet behind edge of pavement at a lower cost; Corrosion resisting vinyl laminate housings with a coating for protection from ultra violet rays provide extra long life.


The Contact Suspension System allows a fixture to be lowered without moving electrical cables over pulleys. This is the key to this innovative technology. (See Figure 1.) It is simple to operate and includes: Electrical contacts that are self-aligning and self-cleaning providing reduced maintenance and reliable conductive properties and a cast tracking maze with two locking cams which assure automatic lining up and locking as the fixture returns to its original position at the top of a pole. Lifting and lowering is done with a portable device specially equipped with a gear box having an operating gear ratio of 50:1. (This provides better holding ability requiring little strength to operate and prevents the device from 'free wheeling' - See Figure 2.) When in position, twin tracking support arms hold the weight of a luminaire so that there is no tension in the lowering cable (generally referred to as a control cable).

Poles of 25- to 42-meter height (85 to 140 feet) are less expensive than the usual high-mast options. There is no need to house lifting and lowering equipment internally, hence, poles for this new system are smaller in diameter and are more economical. As well, there is no luminaire ring required because each luminaire has its own lifting and lowering device. Thus structural requirements for the poles are considerably less than for standard high-mast lighting. 

Costs are less than for other systems because, the advantages result in cost efficient lighting with simple maintenance procedures. Because of the portability of components, personnel do not need heavy motorized equipment to service a site. Hence, the system is ideally suited for lighting needs in difficult locations such as highway rest areas, busy parking areas, parking garages inaccessible by boom trucks (particularly on upper decks), rapid transit yards, and other municipal plants. (See also Design, Construction and Maintenance of Highway Safety Features and Appurtenances: Users Handbook, Federal Highway Administration, US DOT) 


 

              

              


 

Maintenance is easier for these reasons:

  • There is no need for: Bucket trucks; Two or more personnel; or Additional trucks or equipment to enforce lane closures to protect motorists against the swing of a bucket truck boom.
     
  • Because there is no need for bucket trucks or lane closures and maintenance is simple and easy to perform, the exposure of maintenance personnel to high-speed traffic is minimized thereby reducing the potential for accidents and the liability of a road authority. 
     
  • All components of the lifting and lowering system are portable and can be carried by one person. 
     
  • The system is simple and maintenance procedures can be taught to novices in a short time. This is especially helpful if municipal employees, not specialists, are to be responsible for maintaining the lighting system

 

Other over-all advantages of this innovative system include the following:
  • There is no chance of electrical cable snarling as in standard high-mast installations (the most common maintenance problem) because the contact suspension system includes a plug-in device eliminating the need for electrical cable to move over pulleys during the raising and lowering operations. 
     
  • Being able to lower the luminaire at high-mast installations dispenses with the need for cranes and specialized personnel to lower poles for maintenance.
     
  • Lighting can be more focused and thus, less costly. For example, if a lighting situation only requires two lamps, two individual lighting and lowering units can be used and each lamp focused on an area without the need for costly luminaire rings or high-mast raising and lowering assemblies. Individual lighting and lowering units cost less than those for a high-mast system (typically, 1/6 of that for a high-mast lowering assembly). 
     
  • Because the hidden light source considerably lessens the light trespass and the ability to aim other individual lights better, there is no trespass of light off the highway right-of-way and less glare. 


Median Barrier Installation of  FLS - Day View
at Left, Night View (Installed Luminaire Inset) right

 

 


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