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ilp archive : journals

public lighting no. 9 vol. 3
March 1938


Editorial p3
The President
The President, Mr. C. I. Winstone, has made a good recovery after a series illness.

And Now Bournemouth p3
The annual conference will be held in Bournemouth on the 5th-8th September. It is hoped to break all previous records for attendance.

The Exhibition p3
The Association will have the use of the Town Hall for the conference, and an adjacent hall for the exhibition.

Jones vs. Sawyer p3
Their disagreement, which occurred during the previous year's conference, has now been resolved. "Whilst free discussion is welcomed at the APLE Conferences when made in a spirit of friendly rivalry, it is to be hoped that on no future occasion will it be found necessary for either side to take exception to statements made in the Conference Hall." This was discussed in the section High Pressure Gas Tests (see below).

Road Illuminants p3
Evidence continues to accumulate from car drivers and pedestrians of the deleterious effect owing to the indiscriminate placing of illuminated display signs in juxaposition with authorised signal lights. This has been covered before in Public Lighting before and once again attention is drawn to those red and green lights on the efficiency of street lighting. In an article Mr. W. J. A. Butterfield suggests that some competent body should consider the question of coordination of private outdoor and public lighting. It is hoped that a committee, set up by the Home Secretary to consider an amendment of the law relating to the regulation of advertisments, might take this vital question into consideration.

Local Authorities' Burden p4
The Association Of Municipal Corporations have expressed the view that the recently published Ministry Of Transport Departmental Report will place a heavy financial burden on local authorities. Therefore the Association have asked the Minister Of Transport to defer coming to any decision on the report until they've had an opportunity to present their views to him. The Association have sought estimates from local authorities as to the cost of bringing up the lighting of (a) classified roads and (b) other roads to the standard recommented by the Ministry Of Transport.

County Roads - Road Lighting In Berkshire p4
By Section 23 of the Road Traffic Act, 1934, a county council is empowered to light rowads if the appropriate lighting authority has failed to provide such illumination or better illumination s the county council may require. A lighting authority which, by request of the county council provides lighting, or better illumination, are entitled to receive from the county council the amount raised. At the present time, none of the county roads in Berkshire are lit by the County Council. In some cases Parish Councils, has Lighting Authorities, are considering schemes for the lighting of roads in their areas and the question of grants towards the costs has been made. At present, Government grants are not available towards the cost of lighting the roads, other than trunk roads. However the County Councils' Association have made representations to the Ministry Of Transport urging that grands in aid of approved expenditure upon the lighting of county roads should be made to county councils or to the road lighting authorities. The County Finance Committee considered that the cost of lightign country roads should be eligible for grants and have passed the following resolution:

That Parliament, having seen fit to confer on highway authorities the power to provide for the lighting of roads under their control and of trunk roads, the Berkshire County Council consider it illogical that financial aid should be given to the lighting of trunk roads only and they urge the County Councils' Association to take such further steps as they may think fit to scure the discontinuance of the present anomalous position with a view to the cost of ligthing roads receiving adequate grant from national funds.

Modern Lighting In The Highlands p4
The road leading to Tomintoul, the highest village in Scotland, has been lit with GEC lighting columns equipped with small Oxford lanterns burning OSIRA electic discharge lamps.

APLE: Conference, APLE: Organisation, Lighting: Legal, Lighting: Funding and Lighting: Installations.


The Henley Sharborn Relay p5
Detailed account of this realy. The unique and outstanding feature is that the operation coils, except during the moment of operation, are dead at all times. Engineers interested in street lighting systems will welcome the cascade arrangement Relay, as it can be applied to new developments or for extensions to existing systems.
Lighting: Control


A New Street Lighting Specification by D. Sandiman p7
Public Lighting Engineers would welcome a specification defining public lighting installations and indicating clearly how one installation compares with another, and also arranged to show in what direction improvements should be made. It is signficant that the MOT has had to take the matter in hand and issue recommendations which are entirely independent to B.S.S. 307. Delay in the adoption of a revised specification is due to the conflicting opinions of memebrs of committees and also to an inspired inertia on the part of certain interests.

Proposal: each classification consists of two parts. The numerator is a measure of the adequacy of the number of lighting points - it is the proportion of the ideal or recommended number of lighting points e.g. 7 would indicate an installation with only 70% of the idea number of lamps. (It is calculated as: 10 x Recommended Spacing/Actual Spacing). While the denominator specifies the mounting height and lumens of each point represented by a capital and small letter. (These are in accordance with the "Lowest Recommend" figures in Table II of B.S.S. 307.

There would appear to be no advantage in departing from the spacings recommended in B.S.S. 307 therefore a representative or average spacing of 100 feet has been adopted. On curves, the lamps should be placed on the outside of the bend, and on sharp curves it is desirable to reduce the 100 feet spacing. (A experimental "spotting" device has been developed for curve spacing).

Example One: In Edinburgh, the principal tram routes are lit by 500W lamps spaced at 40 yards and mounted on tram poles at 23'6": this classification would be 8/Dd.
Example Two: The suburban bus routes are lit by means of 4-burner lamps spaced at 25 yards and mounted at 13'. This specication would be 10/Gg.
Example Three: Princes Street is lit by two 500W lamps on each central pole spaced at 40 yards, or class 4/Dc.

Mounting Height
Classification
Lowest Mounting Height
A.30
B.27½
C.25
D.21
E.18
F.15
G.13

Lumen Classification
Classification
Lumens
Source
a.32/64Two or more high powered lamps
b.16/32Two or more high powered lamps
c.8/161000W GLS / 400W MA
d.4/8500W GLS / 250W MA / High pressure gas
e.2/4300W GLS / Large low-pressure suspension lamp
f.1/2200W GLS / Six mantles
g..5/1100W GLS / Three mantles
h.0/.560W GLS / Single mantle
Lighting: Specifications


A Triumph For Low Pressure Gas Street Lighting p9
A street lighting installation of exceptional interest has been erected for Holborn Borough Council in Woburn Place, London, W.C., by The Gas Light And Coke Company. The installation was erected to the specification and plans of Mr. J. E. Parr, A.M.Inst.C.E., the Borough Engineer and Surveyor. The lamps are Keith Blackman Magnalux types which were first exhibited at the A.P.L.E. Conference at Folkestone in September 1937. The installation comprises seven four-mantle lamps on bracket arm columns giving 25' height to light source, while three double-arm columns each carrying two three-mantle lamps have been fixed on refuges. The columns were supplied by the Bromford Tube Co., Ltd. and the lamsp are carried on Keith Blackman raising and lowering gear. Ignition is by means of Horstmann Comet igniters. The lamps are spaced approximately 90' apart, the road width being 48'. The lamps are fixed on 8' bracket arms giving 6' outreach beyond the kerb and central sources are placed on the refuges. The output per 100' length of road exceeds 15,000 lumens and the test point illumination averages slighty below .5 foot candles, the installation falling in class "C" of the B.S.I. specification.
Lighting: Installations


High Pressure Gas Tests p10
During the discussion on Mr. Keith's paper at Folkestone during the A.P.L.E. Conference, Mr. Jones of the Electric Lamp Manufacturers' Association had tested some high pressure gas street lamps by the National Physical Laboratory and the results were far below those usually claimed by the gas industry. After being challenged, Mr. Jones co-operated with the makers and the Gas Light And Coke Company and further tests were carried out by the National Physical Laboratory. Mr. Jones admits that when he made his statement, he had overlooked published data relative to the light ouput of 1-light and 2-light higher pressure gas lanterns presented to the APLE in 1932. Retests confirmed the gas manufacturers' claims.
Lighting: Levels


St. Pancras Street Lighting p10
The Metropolitan Borough of St. Pancras has installed Siemens 400W Sieray lamps in Regent-Sieray lanterns for the lighting of Hampstead Road.
Lighting: Installations


Morden's New Street Lighting p10
The new mercury electric discharge street lighting installation on st. Helier Avenue, Morden, was inaugurated on the evening of Wednesday, January 19th by Councillor A. H. Gray, Chairman of the Highways Committee of Merton and Morden Urban District Council. The Chairman of the council stated that the authority had for some time felt the necessity for improving the existing lighting on St. Helier Avenue, a doulbe carriageway thoroughfare approximately one mile long extending from the Rosehill Corner at the north end of the Sutton Bypass to the roundabout at the corner of Morden Hall Road. The council waiting for the Final Report from the MOT before going ahead. The installation had been carried out by the County Of London Electric Supply Co., Ltd., in association with BTH. 47 lamp standards were provided in three rows, at each kerb side, with an overhang of 4'6" and in the centre reservation by a single row of light sources mounted in cradle type brackets. The average spacing on each carriageway is 150' and there is a mounting height of 25'. This arrangement has resulted in each carriageway being lighted independently, providing a staggered arrangement. On the bend in the road approaching Morden Hall Road, there are no lamps on the inside of the curve, two rows of lamps only being used. All the lamps are controlled by time switches and the lanterns are BTH Mercra H provided with 400W mercury electric discharge lamps burning horizontally, magnetic reflection is incorporated in the lantern. Mr. W. P. Robinson, Surveyor to Surrey County Council, commended the Merton and Morden for its enterprise in lighting this double carriageway in an efficient manner.
Lighting: Installations


APLE Conference, 1938 p11
Preliminary details of the forthcoming conference in Bournemouth.
APLE: Conference


A Clever Design In Concrete Columns p12
The promenade at Morecambe has been relit by 75 GEC lanterns fitted with 500W Osram lamps. These are suspended from ornamental concrete columns and brackets manufactured by Concrete Utilities.
Lighting: Installations


Street Lighting Control - A Light Actuated Installation At Sheffield p12
The basis of the light-actuated control is a selenum cell whose resistance to electricity varies according to the light intenstiy which is allowed to reach it, and by means of an appropiate circuit is made to operate relays and contractors of any load. An essential factor in installing this type of apparatus is the position of the bridge in its weatherproof housing, in order that the light from the lamps controlled or that of any surrounding illumination does not affect it. The installation illustrated are the lighting of bollards at an intersection in Sheffield with units made by Radiovisor Parent Ltd. to the order of Mr. J. F. Colquhoun. Also mentioned was the installation at Woolwich in which the whole of the borough was controled from central points by cascades of contactors which are operated by light actuated apparatus.
Lighting: Control, Lighting: Installations


Road Illumination by L. J. Davies, M.A., B.Sc. and G. S. Lucas, M.I.E.E. p17
Full reproduction of the paper given at a joint meeting of Engineering and Technical Societies organised by the Institution of Automobile Engineers and held at the Instutition of Civil Engineers, Westminster on the 1st March 1938. Includes the discussion where points such as: street kerbs should afford a really effective boudnary between footway and carriageway; the imperative need for co-ordination of private outdoor lighting with public lighting (e.g. no private red or green lights should be tolerated in the line of vision of a controlled crossing); and how the number of posts or columns supporting signal lights, beacons, tram or bus stop signs etc., have increased so enormously in recent times that they now very seriously obstrut the footway; how display signs and certain shop front lights sometimes interfere with the efficiency of public street lighting.
Lighting: Colour, Lighting: Distribution, Lighting: Levels, Lighting: Specifications and Lighting: Theory.


Automatic Ignition Devices Seen At The B.I.F. p22
The Horstmann Gear Co., Ltd. of Bath exhibited a wide range of Newbridge Clock Controllers and Comet Automatic Ignition Devices for public lighting. The chief feature of the exhibit was the wide variety of lamps shown from Sugg, Foster And Pullen, Keith Blackman and Parkinson. Last year (1937) the outstanding success of the Mark III Comet for square lanterns and Type 15/3A/COM Controller (which embodies the Controller and Comet in a weatherproof case) for suspension lamps led to many requests from Public Lighting Engineers, gas undertakings, and lamp manufacturers for a Comet suitable for suspension lamps which were already clock controlled. Therefore a new Comet in a weatherproof case for suspension and U bracket lamps is expected. The Newbridge Service Pressure Governor was also shown (although it wasn't often encountered in actual distribution practice).
Lighting: Control, Lighting: Manufacturers


The "Avil" Sideway Lamp p22
The Avil Sideway lamp has been recently introducd by Foster And Pullen Ltd. for Group B roads under the recommendations of the MOT's Final Report. Supplied in sizes from one mantle to four mantles, the lamp is claimed to be the best illumination yet offered for such sizes. The "Sideway" is a globe unit for axial or non-axial lighting, fitted as standard with mirror glass reflectors above the light source and with provision for a Staybright steel faceted back reflector or Holophane dish reflector. The lamp is easily accessible for cleaning, the globe of standard size to facilitate maintenance, and for pillar fixing the bracket carrying the lamp is in effect an extension piece available with or without ladder bars. Newbridge "Comet" ignition may be incorporated in this unit and to meet local conditions an ordinary by-pass cock operation is available. The lamp is available also for bracket fixing. For pillar fixing the standard length of bracket gives a height to light source of 4' above the spigot; the bracket dimension can be varied to requirements.

In the case of Group A roads, the Avil, Alpha and Arcturus lamps in the larger sizes will give illumination recommended by the Final Report.
Lighting: Control, Lighting: Luminaires, Lighting: Manufacturers


Looking Back by Thos. G. Bransford p23
Recollections of a career in the lighting industry including working at Sugg, Johnson And Phillips, Islington and finally as the Public Lighting Superintendent of Stepney.
Lighting: History, Lighting: Personnel


Street Lighting Notes p24, p25
Brief description of the installations at Accrington, Battersea, Bath, Beeston, Blackburn, Bolton, Bridlington, Bromley, Burnley, Camberwell, Canterbury, Clitheroe, Cupar, Dumfries, East Ham, Falkirk, Finchley, Hebden Royd, Jarrow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Plymouth, Bishop Auckland, Blackburn, Chesterfield, Coalville, Lincoln, Malvern, Middlesbrough, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, Salford, Warwich and Wigan.
Lighting: Installations


Adverts: British Commercial Gas Association, William Sugg And Co., Ltd., Walter Slingsby and Co., Ltd., Siemens Electric Lamps And Supplies Ltd., The British Thomson-Houston Co. Ltd., Holophane Ltd., British Sangamo Company Ltd., Philips Lamps Ltd., Gowshall Ltd., Gas Meter Company, Radiovisor Parent Ltd., Foster And Pullen Ltd., REVO Electric Co., Ltd., The Horstmann Gear Co., Ltd., Concrete Utilities Co., Ltd., James Keith And Blackman Co., Ltd., British Electrical Development Association, Inc and The General Electric Co., Ltd.