CATENARY LIGHTING ON THE M5 MOTORWAY AT EXETER

A brief account is given of the development of catenary lighting installations in Europe, followed by a description of catenary systems in general, and their advantages over conventional road lighting systems. These advantages are (a) improved longitudinal uniformity, (b) improved visual guidance; (C) improved road safety; (D) reduced glare; (E) reduced maintenance costs. The scheme installed on the M5 motorway at Exeter is a running wire system comprising forty-nine centrally-mounted steel columns each 16.3 metres high, supporting 210 cut-off catenary lanterns at a mounting height of 12 metres above the carriageway, over a total length of 2.9 kilometres. The columns are spaced 60 metres apart, supporting five lanterns per span over the four lane dual section of the motorway, and four lanterns per span over the three lane dual section. The lanterns are spaced 12 metres apart giving a space/height ratio of 1:1. Each lantern houses a 180 w low pressure sodium lamp, type sox, and the associated control gear and photo-electric cell. Further details are given of the catenary columns, lanterns, lamps, control, cables, and levels of illumination for the M5 scheme, together with a brief outline of the installation procedure. It is concluded, that if used in the right situations, such as on motorways and dual carriageways, catenary lighting has many advantages over conventional road lighting methods. The cost of the M5 installation was approximately found28,500 per kilometre, which also compares favourably with conventional methods. /TRRL/

• Corporate Authors:

  Association of Public Lighting Engineers

  78 Buckingham Gate, Westminster
  London SW1E 6PF,   England 
• Authors:
  • McCauley, N S
• Publication Date: 1977-3

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: Figures; References;
• Pagination: p. 4-7
• Serial:
  • Public Lighting
  • Volume: 42
  • Issue Number: 176
  • Publisher: Association of Public Lighting Engineers

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Building; Catenaries (Railroads); Costs; Facilities; Freeways; Glare; Height; Highway safety; Installation; Lanterns; Lighting; Lighting columns; Maintenance management; Reduction (Chemistry); Safety; Street lighting; Structural supports; Wire
• Uncontrolled Terms: Longitudinal; Maintenance costs
• Geographic Terms: United Kingdom
• Old TRIS Terms: Reduction; Supports
• ITRD Terms: 224: Cost; 1677: Glare; 6489: Height; 3840: Installation; 516: Lantern; 545: Lighting (street); 527: Lighting column; 9039: Longitudinal; 2752: Motorway; 1665: Safety; 8119: United Kingdom; 4520: Wire
• Subject Areas: Construction; Finance; Highways; Maintenance and Preservation; Safety and Human Factors; I85: Safety Devices used in Transport Infrastructure;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00156490
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Transport and Road Research Laboratory (TRRL)
• Report/Paper Numbers: Analytic
• Files: ITRD, TRIS
• Created Date: Sep 20 1977 12:00AM