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ilp archive : journals

public lighting no. 36 vol. 10
January-March 1945


Editorial p9
Twenty One Years p9
Twenty one years ago the Association of Public Lighting Engineers came into being. In those years, some remarkable strides have been made in the scientific application of both gas and electricity for street lighting. Back in 1924, street lighting occupied a very ordinary and, in many instances, an insignificant place in the minds of Municipal Authorities.
APLE: History


APLE Awakens Interest p9
The formation of the APLE helped to change this disinterested outlook. The Annual Conferences, which creted so much interest, were unique inasmuch as at these gatherings, two rival interests, gas and electricity, met in an atmosphere of friendly rivalry and helpfulness. The aim of those attending the conferences ws to improve street lighting. And they succeeded: the haphazard forms of street lamp installations gave way to scientific methods. It was the APLE Conference that brought together the manufacturer and the lighting engineer, and other officials responsible for improved lighting, that helped in the ultimate development and rapid advance in street lighting improvements.
APLE: History, APLE: Conference


The Next Conference p9
The Council feel confident they can go ahead with making arrangements for a Conference in the autumn of 1945. Glasgow will be the venue. What could be more appropriate? It was Mr. Langlands, then Lighting Superintendent of Glasgow, who in 1924 became the first President, and regarded as "The Grand Old Man". A Glasgow man, Mr. E. J. Stewart, M.A., B.Sc., has been invited to be President this year, and it is hoped he will conduct the Glasgow Conference.
APLE: History, APLE: Conference


Conference, 1945 p9
Street lighting will occupy a large place in the eyes of local Councils in the days ahead. The slogan "A Brighter Better Britain" can only become a reality when streets after dark are really made brighter.
APLE: Conference


Papers Competition p10
The Council of the APLE have decided to offer prizs for papers.
APLE: Conference


Obituary p10
Obituaries of George Keith and Robert Mason.
Lighting: Personnel


Letter: Fallicies In Street Lighting Technique by P. Hartill, A.M.I.E.E., F.I.E.S. p10
It is sometimes considered that the most efficient type of lantern for street lighting is one that directs as much of the available light as possible to the road surface. It has long been recognised that a specified value of illumination in foot-candles does not guarantee a suitable value of brightness. For this reason the Final Report does not make any recommendations regarding foot-candles - it recommends the production of a high and uniform a background brightness as possible. It does not seem to be generally appreciated that the carriageway forms only a small portion of the total useful background. Therefore the light emitted from street lanterns which does not fall within the confines of the kerb lines or even on the pavement should not be regarded as wasted. On the contrary, the wider the lateral spread of the light, compatible with the permissible spacing of the lanterns, the better will be the uniformity of brightness over the total useful background. There seems to be a danger that the exploded fallacy of the foot-candle yardstick for appraising the effectiveness of street lighting is being superseded by the equally fallacious assumption that a high and uniform carriageway brightness is the sole requisite for good silhouette vision.
Lighting: Theory


Letter by C. S. Davies p10
In Cheserfield we have put out "Moonlight" Lighting Units, following instructions from the Institution of Gas Engineers. The method adopted has been one Bijou Mantle, a black "cut-off", an inch clear glass strip and the remaining portion of glass covered with a cream distemper. There is a general opinion that this lighting is very good and post-war lighting might follow similar lines.
Lighting: ARP, Lighting: Theory


Street Lighting by C. R. Bicknell, B.Sc., F.I.E.S. p11
The Economic Aspect
Good street lighting is an economic necessity. In peace time, 38% of the total fatal casualties on the roads occurred after dark. In the first year of the war this rose to 54% and in the second war year was 43%. Also the war time traffic numbers were considerably less than the peace time traffic numbers. The increase was down to the black-out and that but for the reduction in traffic density the increase in the number of night fatalities would have been still higher. In a debate in the House Of Commons in 1936, it was revealed that the cost of road accidents in the country was 25 million pounds. It is difficult to obtain statistics from which to deduce the effect of improved street lighting on the night accident rare. On the Victoria Embankment the number of accidents involving vehicles was reduced following re-lighting by 31% in the six summer months and 81% during the six winter months.
Good street lighting does reduce night accidents. The community pays for good street lighting whether or not it gets it

The Objects Of Street Lighting
The primary object of street lightign is to provide sufficient visibiity to ensure the safety of the public and its property during the hours of darkness. With the war-time restrictions on the use of motor vehicles, a great and growing density of traffic on the roads must be expected. Good lighting also deters the criminal, enables pedestrians to move about at night with the same confidence as day, and shopping ares and important urban centres can be made additionally attractive.

Standards Of Good Street Lighting
Summary of Group A and Group B lighting from the Final Report.

The Technique Of Street Lighting
Raising And Lowering Gear: (1) Lower labour costs for maintenance; (2) Lanterns more easily cleaned on the ground than at the top of a tower wagon; (3) Unless the overhang is excessive, the maintenance can be effected without causing obstruction; (4) Elimination of risk of accidents to maintenance personnel; (5) However increased cost of installation and additional equipment to maintain.

The Tower Wagon: (1) Cost less than the raising and lowering gear; (2) Tower wagons must obstruct the road that may be serious on narrow roads; (3) Lamps are subjected to less shock than when the complete unit is lowered to the ground for cleaning.

Choice of columns are commonly steel, cast-iron or ferro-concrete. A lighting engineer must know their characteristics and be in a position to offer advice to the street lighting authority as to the most suitable - not necessarily the cheapest.

Methods of control include: (1) Hand or time-clock operated switch circuits; (2) Individual time switches; (3) Centralised conrtol of high frequency impulse or D.C. bias and (4) Contactors in cascade.

Post War Co-operation
Before the war there appeared to be growing a tendency for adjacent local authorities to consult together before embarking on new street lighting projects. We hope to see closer cooperation between those responsible for the planning and maintenance of our roads and those whose duty it is to light them. Without it the work of the street lighting engineer is not only made more difficult but is nearly always made more costly. The highways engineer is concerned with providing a surface that will be durable and possess non-skid properties, whilst the lighting engineer asks for one that will give effective diffuse reflection of light and thus provide the high and even level of surface brightness necessary to give good visibility. Dr. Merry Cohu carried out tests on actual sections of road surfaces removed from Paris roads, and found that the candle-power of a light source necessary to light a compressed asphalt road is represented by 1; for wood bock and bitumen its 5 and 2.7.

Judging a Street Lighting Installation
Lantern efficiency should not be used to judge an installation as it gives no indication whether the light is being redirected to where it is required. Similarly lanterns should not be compared, except for appearance, by looking at them. If lighting should be compared then it should be done under varying weather conditions, normal traffic conditions (not when the road is empty) and as a driver.

Maintenance
Street lighting equipment is designed and manufactured so it can be kept in a state of mechanical and optical efficiency with the minimum of attention. Street lighting lanterns are exposed throughout their useful lives to very varying conditions of temperature and weather, and although the use of non-corroding metals, smooth exterior surfaces of refractors, total enclosure of lanterns etc., lengthen the period between the necessary attendances of hte maintenance personnel, a regular maintenance programme is essential. Local atmospheric conditions will determine how often the cleaning schedule is.
Lighting: Maintenance, Lighting: Statistics, Lighting: Specifications, Lighting: Theory, Lighting: Weather


Winnipeg Pays Tribute To London p17
The City Council of Winnipeg, Canada, festooned Portage Avenue and Main Street with electric lights to mark the lifting of "black out" in London. "Festoon lights will blaze over Portage Avenue and Main street next Saturday and Sunday nights, and flags will wave along the two thoroughfares to mark the turning on of London's lights, Sunday." But on Sunday 17th 1944, London didn't relax the blackout rules.
Lighting: Events, Lighting: Installations


Street Lantern Designs For Post-War Installations p18
REVO Limited
C9777 Cut-Off Lantern, C10735 Semi-Cut-Off Lantern, C10766/7 Semi-Cut-Off Lantern and C10724 Ornamental Lantern.
Lighting: Future, Lighting: Luminaires


Bristol Gets Better Lighting p19
Bristol was within the coastal ban and not even ARP/37 could be considered. However in September 1944, the City's Engineer's Department completed and ambitious scheme by installing, through the main thoroughfares of the City, improved and in many cases, entirely new lamp fittings. (Dim-out lighting). The city has a normal installation of 15,000 street lamps extending well over 500 miles of streets and highways. In one workshop, 34' steel fluted columns were fabricated for a 25' mounting height. They carry a 6' arm for the lamp, strengthed by a steel trap above. The works had a stock of 100 of these columns before the war so were able to carry out much of the reinstatement work. 20 columns have now been placed in the city, each at 25' high, giving the required 0.02 foot candle intensity. this is part of the finished scheme for the City Centre and brighter lamps will be installed later.
Square type gas lanterns have now been fitted with electric lamps and to obtain 0.02 f.c. the upper halves of the four glass panels were painted black whilst the lower halves were "haved" with transparent varnish paint thinned down. For Group A roads where 250W mercury discharge lamps were fitted, they have now been replaced with Starlight fittings with the bottoms removed and 25W lamps inserted.
The old arc lamp pillars were made of cast-iron and broke very easily when hit. It was agreed that the slender modern steel tube, bereft of any unnecessary trimmings, gave a smarter appearance. When hit, steel columns would be bent, and it was easy to bend them straight.
In the war damaged areas, most of the lamps were suspended arcs. Under "Moonlight" conditions, 25' mounting pillars had been erected, and more of the main thoroughfares through this damaged, district gave a more cheerful aspect after dark.
Lighting: ARP, Lighting: Installations


Congratulations p20
Mr. J. N. Aldington. B.Sc, F.R.I.C., F.Inst.P has been awarded the degree of Ph.D. (External) by the University Of London for a Thesis on "The High Current Density Mercury Vapour Lamp"
Lighting: Personnel


The Coming Of Age Of The Association Of Public Lighting Engineers p21
Thoughts and good wishes from many people associated with the APLE: Sam H. B. Langlands (First President, Glasgow), W. J. Liberty (Founder, City Of London), J. F. Colquhoun (Sheffield), C. S. Shapley (Leeds), Thomas Wilkie (Leicester) (strongly advocates central control in the future; and local groups; and a Street Lighting Ministry or Division), Harold Davis (Chesterfield), C. I. Winstone (Gas Light And Coke Company), Alex C. Cramb and Haydn T. Harrison, Lt.-Commander, R.N.V.R., M.I.E.E.
Lighting: History, Lighting: Personel


The Automobile Headlight by J. H. Nelson, B.Sc., Ph.D., F.I.E.S. p25
Brief details of the paper.
Other


Adverts: The General Electric Co., Ltd, The Association Of Metal Sprayers, Stanton Ironworks Co., Ltd, Siemens Electric Lamps And Supplies Ltd., Metropolitan Vickers Electrical Co. Ltd, Engineering And Lighting Equipment Co. Ltd., Holophane Ltd., British Commercial Gas Association, British Electrical Development Association, Inc, Philips Lamps Ltd., The British Thomson-Houston Co. Ltd., The Horstmann Gear Co., Ltd., Walter Slingsby and Co., Ltd., Automatic Telephone And Electrical Co., Ltd., William Sugg And Co., Ltd., Crompton Parkinson Ltd., Sordoviso Switchgear Ltd., British, Foreign And Colonial Automatic Light Controlling Co., Ltd., Girlings Ferro-Concrete Co. Ltd, Sangamo Weston Ltd. and Poles Ltd.