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ilp archive : journals
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public lighting no. 2 vol. 1
June 1936
- More Light On The Subject p31
- Cartoon of Rt. Hon. Leslie Hore-Belisha (Minister Of Transport) and
APLE President Maurice Bell, A.M.Inst.G.E
- APLE: Organisation
- Editorial p32
- The new journal and a request for articles and photographs, regististration for the
conference at Cheltenham, details of the conference itself in the Town Hall, the exhibition
to be held in the Winter Gardens, mention of the debate in the House Of Commons and the
importance for every Local Authority to have a qualified Public Lighting Engineer, and a list
of new members to the association.
- APLE: Journal, APLE:Conference, Lighting: Management, Lighting: Legal, APLE: Organisation
- The Annual Conference: Cheltenham, September 4th - 10th p33
- Description of Cheltenham ("it reflects the gay atmosphere of the Continental Riviera - without any
artificiality"), the Town Hall, the countryside around Cheltenham, the Conference Preliminary Programme,
and the Ladies' Programme. (The Conference Preliminary Programme shows some
significant differences to the final programme and this is outlined its page).
- APLE: Conference
- Public Lighting And Road Safety by Maurice Bell, A.M.Inst.G.E p35-p37, p51
- (Public Lighting Superintendent, Tottenham And District Gas Company).
- This paper has eight parts:
- Accident Statistics
- During the past decade, one of the dominant factors -
which has brought with it other changes profoundly influencing
Public Lighting - has been the enormous development in the volume
and speed of motor traffic.
- The number of accidents has increased almost continuously
year by year, with the result that the annual figures
(for both fatal and non-fatal) have roughly doubled during the
last ten years.
- In 1935, 6502 people were killed and 221,726 were injured on
the roads in Great Britain.
- In a recent report on road accidents prepared by the police for
the Ministry Of Transport, (compiled from data collected during the first few months of 1935
where the mean time for the lighting of street lamps was 5.40PM),
and which received considerable publicity
in the Press, the worst period of the day for accidents is between
5PM and 6PM, and the second worst period is between 6PM and 7PM.
- A recent enquiry in the United States has suggested the "the night-hazard is
roughly four times the day-hazard" - the need for good road lighting
is surely evident.
- Much discretion is needed in the interpretation of these statistics e.g.
better lighting leads to greater safety, it may enable motorists to
proceed at greater speed or lead to an increase in the volume of traffic;
or a road may be so badly lighted as to be shunned by traffic, therefore
being relatively free from accidents, although of little service to
the community.
- Illumination Values
- In 1922, the home Office Departmental Committeee on Lighting in Factories and Workshops
recommended a minium illumination of 5 foot-candles for fine work - a street with a minimum
illumination of 0.05 foot candles (Class F) would be considered relatively well lighted. Yet this
is only one hundredth of the minimum for industrial lighting, and less than one ten
thousandth of the average daylight value. No street carrying substantial traffic should be lighted
to less intenstiy than Class F.
- In view of the above, it is difficult to understand how any installation of
street lighting can be condemned as "extravagant."
- However, the provision of a certain minimum illumination isn't all that is
necessary to ensure a well-lighted street. New points now better appreciated are:
the distracting effect of glare; and the changed view-point in regard to the
desirability of extreme uniformity of illumination between post and post - a
change occasioned mainly by recognition on the effect of the highly polished
road-surfaces of dark texture.
- Influence Of Road Surface
- There are two schools of thought: those holding to the ideal of
general illumination of objects in the same manner as by daylight;
and those who want to achieve high and even road brightness so
that objects are revealed silhouetted against the brighter background.
- One difficulty faced in studying road brightness is the
extraordinary difference in appearance of a road in wet conditions
as compared with its aspect when dry.
- In wet conditions, unexpected regions of "blackness" may be revealed
as the point of view of the observer changes. Also the impression caused
by the lights themselves at distant bends may easily mislead drivers.
- Whilst road surface brightness is a vital factor when considering
motor traffic, on other types of roads e.g. shopping centres,
residential areas with little traffic, different aspects my prevail.
- Greater Uniformity Needed
- Uniformity needs to be achieved when passing from one road to another
or from one lighting authority to another. These variations undoubtedly
constitute a contributory cause of accidents.
- The uniformity of lighting could be achieved by the general application
of the British Standard Specification (BS 307:1931)
and by systematic classification of roads in each area.
- Grading of illumination between different classified roads needs care as
conflicting opinions have been received.
- The Ministry Of Transport Committee
- The committee has commenced its task at an opportune moment.
- The APLE was invited to give evidence before the committee and was able to present
some instructive data illustrating the extraordinary lack of uniformity that prevails in
some areas at the present time.
- The publication of the Interim Report is a gratifying recognition of the
national imporance of public lighting and its direct relation to the safety
of the roads.
- The advancement in the field of street lighting has not been comparable with that in some
other fields of lighting e.g. the lighting of shops and sotres where a direct appeal to business
considerations is possible has development immensely.
- Bad public lighting is a gamble with fate. Every motorist and pedestrian risks a danger. Good and
efficient public lighting can be secured if ratepayers foot the bill.
- A Classification Of Roadways
- What is required is a systematic study and classifcation of roadways for Public Lighting needs.
- Lighting units and installations should be planned to meet, not only present-day requirements,
but also future eventualities.
- Many routes have changed e.g. merely residential becoming an important channel for
outgoing and incoming traffic.
- Arterial roads present a particularly difficult problem because they pass through the areas
of many local authorities, each acting independently, and not infrequently reluctant to
bear the cost of proper lighting; sometimes they are unable to do so.
- Cost - A Suggested Solution
- Lighting should be paid by a common fund for the purpose, to which local and county
authorities should contribute, and which should be aided by a generous contribution from
the Road Fund.
- The lighting of roadways should be an integral part of their construction and maintenance.
- Of a total of 8,760 hours per annum during which roads can be used, the dark hours amount
to over 4,000 - approximately 46%. Bearing in mind the heavy cost of construction, it is
merely judicious expenditure to equip them with lighting that will enable them to be used
with safety by night, thus relieving in part the heavy congestion during the day.
- In the interest of satefy, proper lighting should be made compulsory on all roads
in and through towns, and on all main arterial roads carrying heavy traffic.
- "Patching up" - the maintenance of exisiting installations and their renovation from
time to time by the subsitution of more efficient lighting devices - benefits the ratepayers
at little, or if any, extra cost.
- However, installations that are definitely out of date, not only in equipment but
in design, should not be patched up. In such cases, the only real solution is redesign in
acccordance with modern methods.
- The Public Lighting Engineer
- Towns and cities of any size should employ a thoroughly qualified Public Lighting engineer.
- Where the expenditure of public money on lighting is considerable, expert supervision is
a whole-time job, and it is my conviction that there is quickly approaching a time when the
fully trained Public Lighting engineer will be in urgent demand to a continually increasing
extent.
- The APLE has recently appointed a committee to map out courses of study for those who
which to enter the profession.
- Conclusion:
- 1. The first object of street lighting is to render motor traffic
safe by removing as far as is possible the principle cause of accidents -
inability to see clearly at night.
- 2. The worst period for accidents falls between sunset and darkness (between
5PM and 7PM in the first months of the year.)
- 3. We are interested chiefly in the part that Public Lighting can play in
increasing the utility of roads and enhancing their safety.
- 4. The inference from the statistics is that good artificial lighting
on the roads is even more important than in the past.
- 5. Illumination values should be increased. A public lighting system of the
highest class is hardly extravagant when compared to industrial lighting (which
arguably involves similar concentration).
- 6. A combination of both the direct illumination and road brightness
theories (silhouette vision) should be used for different traffic types.
- 7. Uniformity of lighting could be achieved by the general application
of the British Standard Specification (BS 307:1931)
and by systematic classification of roads in each area.
- 8. Grading of illumination still requires research.
- 9. The publication of the Interim Report is a gratifying recognition of the
national imporance of public lighting and its direct relation to the safety
of the roads.
- 10. Poor public lighting could be inherently dangerous. There is no reason why it cannot be improved
but ratepayers would have to meet the bill. With no direct tangible results, this is difficult.
- 11. All roads should be classified for Public Lighting requirements, making sure that
future uses of the road are considered.
- 12. The lighting of arterial roads is especially problematic as the road can pass
through many different lighting authorities.
- 13. Lighting should be paid by a common fund for the purpose, to which local and county
authorities should contribute, and which should be aided by a generous contribution from
the Road Fund.
- 14. Existing installations can be improved by "patching up" at little or no cost to
the ratepayer.
- 15. Installations that are definitely out of date, not only in equipment but
in design, should not be patched up. In such cases, the only real solution is redesign in
acccordance with modern methods.
- 16. Towns and cities of any size should employ a thoroughly qualified Public Lighting engineer.
- [1] National Safety First Association, Survey, 1935
- [2] MOT's Report Of Road Accidents, 1935
- [3] National Safety First Association, 1933
- [4] MOT's Report Of Road Accidents, 1934
- Statistics: Accident Data, Lighting: Levels,
Lighting: Theory, Lighting: Specifications,
Lighting: Authority Organisation, Lighting: Funding and
APLE: Organisation.
- The Maxill Gas Lamp p38
- Description of the Maxill gas lamp
by Parkinson.
- Lighting: Luminaires
- The Universal Horizontal Illumination Chart p38
- Description of the horizontal illumination chart designed by William J. G. Davey, B.Sc.,
Research Illuminating Engineer to Parkinson. The chart
incorporates nine separate logarithmic scales and enables horizontal illumation to
be rapidly calculated from the perpendicular distance to the lamps, the radial
distance to the lamp, the mounting height of the lamp and the intensity.
- Lighting: Theory
- The 150 Watt OSIRA Electric Discharge Lamp p38
- Announcement of the introduction fo the new 150W GEC OSIRA lamp.
- Lighting: Lamps
- The Public Lighting Engineer At Work p39-40,p45,p51
- Lengthy interview with Thomas Wilkie, the Public Lighting Engineer of Leicester. The article,
which is written as a question and answer interview, includes such topics as: the use of gas or electricity, number
of gas and electric lamps to service, a brief history of the expansion and improvement of the lighting department
since Wilkie's appointment in 1923, various statistics concerning the current installation,
description of the equipment in the test laboratory, the remote control of lamps via a switch board and a description
of the workshop and stores. Small pictures of some of the installations are included. The use of an old fire escape
ladder mounted on the back of a Bedford Truck for street lighting work is also noted - it was rescued from the
Fire Department.
- Lighting: Installations, Lighting: Management and Lighting: Theory
- Glare In Street Lighting by D. G. Sandeman, B.Sc., A.M.I.E.E. p46-47
- (Assistant Inspector of Lighting, Edinburgh)
- Sandeman makes the argument that it is necessary to expose
street lighting light souces with consequent glare. As glare is governed by three
factors (brightness of lamps, their position relative to the observer, the relative
movement of observer with lamp), Sandeman suggests the solution
(especially due to the last factor) is a type
of lighting which will produce a constant amount of glare.
- Some practical experience in Street Lighting shows that an installation
can be improved by:
- (1) Increasing the number of lamps.
- (2) Raising the level of illumination.
- (3) Changing the position of the lamps.
- (4) Altering the light distribution by means of enamelled reflectors,
opal glass, mirrors or glass prisms.
- (5) Departing from the principle of directing a beam of light towards
the B.E.S.A. Test Point.
- An equation for glare is derived from the general illumination equation (without cosine adjustment for horizontal
illumination) and divided by θ3/2. [I am unable to find the source of this
formula.] The expression can be used to produce of Polar Curve for a fitting
which will give the same degree of glare no matter where the observer is
situated, and is applicable to both fixed and moving lights. Having the square of the height in the denominator
means that glare is reduced twofold by every increase in height. This could form
the basis of a new specification where the total lumens and mounting height
could be the two factors expressed. In the case of the car driver, the sudden
loss of the near lamps as he passed under them can be smoothed by the employment
of a grduated filter along the top of the windscreen.
- The paper concludes with photographs and polar diagrams of a 500W bare lamp, refractor fitting and
mirror fitting showing the important of throwing light at angles near the
horizontal.
- Lighting: Theory and Lighting: Distribution
- Light-Actuated Control For Street Lighting p48
- For many years, lights have been controlled where dusk to dawn illumination is required
by selenium cells with a single valve amplifier circuit. But new circuits requiring the
use of a valve have been superseded by those using a bridge. These new Radiovisor Bridge units
have been installed in traffic islands on all new by-pass roads in Surrey and has since spread
to all parts of the country. (For a description of the circuit, see Radiovisor.)
Position of the bridge in its weatherproof housing is essential so that light from
the lamps controlled do not affect it. A separate unit box (with the relay circuit) can
be fixed in the base of the poles or bollards. As the control unit now includes no
expendable part, a very long life can be anticipated.
- Lighting: Control
- Public Lighting Discussed In The House Of Commons p49
- (Report of an Informative Debate from "The Times," 30th April, 1936)
- Report of a debate which took place on the 29th April.
- Mr Salt (Birmingham, Yardley, U.)
moved the following amendment: "That, having regard to the number of road accidents that
occur after dark and to the desirability of affording adequate illumination for the convenience
and safety of the public and for the prevention of crime, it is expedient that
the lighting of highways should be dealt with on a national basis." He said that the
reason why the lighting of the roads of this country was bad was that it was controlled
by 1,400 different local authorities. A tremendous number of the accidents which
took place today could be avoided if better lighting were introduced. Seconded by Mr. Lyons
(Leicester, E., U.) who called for the Minister Of Transport to
establish some kind of central authority in the form of a centralised
Highways Board to tackle the question.
- Mr. Denman (Leeds, Central, Nat. Lab.)
disagreed: "[I] wish to make a strong protest against spending
£3,500,000 on an object which he put extremely low in the scale of
national expenditure. There might be those who did not know the pleasure
of walking about in the night and finding their way in the dark.
Those who remembered what London was like in the air riads would know
that one could then at lesat see the shape of buildings against the
sky and once more realise that the God Who made day and night knew
what He was doing... Anybody who drove a motor-car knew that in the
present artificial lighting he wsa far less safe than in the dark. If
we had this elaborate system of lighting it would simply mean that
people would drive rather faster and would go up to the limit of
speed. The we should have increased accidents."
- Liuet.-Col J. Sandeman Allen
(Birkenhead, W., U.) also mentioned how advertisement lights and signs
were often mistaken for street lighting.
- Captain A. Hudson, Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Transport (Hackney, N., U.), said that before the Government
could bring before the House a scheme for the lighting of the Class 1 roads they would want to be certain that it had almost
universal approval in the House. It was understood that the
Final Report of The Departmental Committee on Street Lighting
would be in the main an amplification of the technical recommendations made in its interim report. They hoped to have
the final report next year. It had been necessary to give time for a number of experiments to take place; so that they might
know the exact type of light which was suitable. The ideal which they required in the lighting of the roads was to achieve
a standard which would be adequate for police purposes and allow motor vehicles to proceed at a reasonable speed without
headlights, that was at a speed of 30 miles an hour. An interesting point in the report was that the committee
were unable to point to any large number of accidents being caused by bad lighting, a view which had been confirmed by the Commissioner
of Metropolitan Police. The committee added that lighting which was patchy was worse than no
lighting at all.
- The committee estimated that the cost of a system of the
high standard they suggested would be between £300 and £400
a mile, and that if that standard was applied to all classified
roads in county boroughs and to 20 per cent of the classified
roads in counties the cost would be £3,500,000 a year.
- A national standard of lighting over the whole country for
the most important roads was the goal to be attained. The
Government were doing their best to get towards that goal,
but in view of their already genuous grants towards the
maintenance of roads they did not feel at the present moment,
and in present circumstances, that they could contemplate the
necessary legislation to that end. He did not wish the House
to think that what he had just said meant that having a
national standard of lighting was being indefinitely shelved.
It did not rule out the possibility of future action. In the
meanwhile they must await the final report of the Departmental
Committee and the results of the experiments which were
being made.
- He could assure the House that the Minister of Transport
was fully alive to the problem of street lighting and was at
present studying the whole subject with great care. The
return which was now being made of all accidents involving
personal injury would give a good indication as to the exact
effect of bad lighting. While the Government could not promise
immediate national action to set up a national lighting system
for the whole country, they were endeavouring to enlarge the
area as suggested by the committee and thus ensure greater
uniformity. They were at prescent experimenting, but they
were not prepared at the moment to bring any scheme before
the House.
- The amendment was, by leave, withdrawn.
- Lighting: Legal, Lighting: Authority Organisation
- "Supervia" Lighting In The Borough Of WandsWorth p50-p51
- Detailed description of the new installation to be installed in the
Borough Of Wandsworth. Supervia gas
lamps (both high and low pressure) to be used throughout, and lighting levels to
be between Classes "E" and "G" of the British Standard (although recommendations of the
Interim Report were also followed).
- Lighting: Lamps and Lighting: Installations
- Sodium Lamps For Oldham p51
- Description of a new sodium installation.
- Lighting: Installations
- Public Works, Roads And Transport Congress 1937 p51
- Details of the papers competition and prizes for the congress next year.
- Other
- "Rochester" Lamps On The Great West Road p51
- Brief description and picture of Suggs' new installation.
- Lighting: Installations
- News Items p52
- Brief comments on two headlines appearing in a weekly journal:
Good Lighting Reduces Accidents where the Victoria Embankment
accident rates from 1928 and 1930 are reported; and in Bad Lighting Increases Accidents
the correspondence between the Harwich Vigilance Committee and the Electrical
Engineer of the local council is quoted.
- Statistics: Accident Data and Lighting: Installations
- Richmond's New Public Lighting System p52
- The new GEC installation in Richmond is briefly described. It includes
GEC Tunbridge Wells lanterns on 25' steel columns.
- Lighting: Installations
- Mercury Vapour Street Lighting p52
- General description of the increasing number of mercury vapour street lighting installations with
details of more units being installed in Croydon. Most have been installed in shopping
areas.
- Lighting: Installations
- Purley Way Lighting p52
- Brief description of the new Purley Way sodium lighting which will replace the 1932
installation. A fuller report is promised for the next issue.
- Lighting: Installations
- Conference Badges p52
- Special conference badges bearing the wearer's name and local authority can be
purchased for the conference.
- APLE: Conference
- Removing Old Paint From Lamp Pillars And Metal Surfaces p53
- Details of Oldham Corportation Lighting Committee patented portable sectional furnace which can be used
to remove paint from old columns. It has been found to be much cheaper than blow-lamps, chemical paint removers,
pneumatic chisels, scrapers, oxy-acetylene burners etc. It burns liquid fuel such as paraffin, crude oil or
spent oil etc. Absorbent burner pads are fixed inside the furnace. It four to five minutes it will reduce paint
up to ¼" thick to a condition where it can be easily scraped and brushed off by scrapers and wire brushes.
A suitably shaped sheet metal guard is fixed to the frog to protect the lantern from the heat; this enables the
work to be done without removing any fittings from the lamp pillar. The whole process can be operated by two
men in 45 minutes per pillar; this includes a priming coat of paint.
- APLE: Equipment
- Adverts:
British Commercial Gas Association,
REVO Electric Co., Ltd.,
Foster And Pullen Ltd.,
William Sugg And Co., Ltd.,
British Foreign and Colonial Automatic Light Controlling Co., Ltd.,
The British Thomson-Houston Co. Ltd.,
Gowshall Ltd.,
The Horstmann Gear Co., Ltd.,
Simplex Electric Co., Ltd.,
Siemens Electric Lamps And Supplies Ltd.,
W. Parkinson and Co.,
Radiovisor Parent Ltd.,
South Metropolitan Gas Co.,
James Keith And Blackman Co., Ltd.,
Bromford Tube Co., Ltd.,
Alder And Mackay Ltd.,
Walter Slingsby and Co., Ltd. and
The General Electric Co., Ltd.
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