SUPPLEMENTARY STUDIES IN HIGHWAY ILLUMINATION. FINAL REPORT

EXISTING PRACTICES IN CONTINUOUS AND INTERCHANGE LIGHTING OF HIGHWAY FACILITIES WERE STUDIED AND IMPROVED METHODS WERE DEVELOPED THAT WILL REDUCE GLARE, IMPROVE UNIFORMITY OF ILLUMINATION, AND OFFER GREATER SAFETY TO HIGHWAY USERS. STUDIES WERE CONDUCTED TO DETERMINE THE EFFECTS OF LIGHTING SYSTEM GEOMETRY ON ILLUMINATION, PAVEMENT BRIGHTNESS AND DISABILITY VEILING BRIGHTNESS PRODUCED BY VARIOUS LIGHT SOURCES. THE LIGHTING SYSTEMS TESTED INCLUDED ONE-SIDE, MEDIAN, AND STAGGERED LIGHTING SYSTEMS WITH 400- AND 1000- WATT LUMINAIRES. THE LIGHT DISTRIBUTION RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN THESE SYSTEMS ARE PRESENTED. THE CUTOFF TYPE LUMINAIRE WAS ALSO STUDIED AND FOUND IMPRACTICAL. ALSO STUDIED AND PRESENTED ARE FACTS CONCERNING THE EFFECTS OF LIGHTING SYSTEM GEOMETRY ON ROADSIDE SIGN VISIBILITY. IT WAS FOUND THAT MOUNTING HEIGHT DEFINITELY HAS AN EFFECT ON VISIBILITY AND LEGIBILITY OF ROADWAY SIGNS. FROM STUDIES INVOLVING THE INSTALLATION OF HIGH-MAST ILLUMINATION TOWERS AT TWO INTERCHANGES, IT WAS CONCLUDED THAT THIS WAS A VERY EFFECTIVE MEANS OF ILLUMINATION AND IS SUPERIOR TO CONVENTIONAL SYSTEMS. VARIOUS LUMINAIRE SUPPORT DESIGNS WERE STUDIED, IN ORDER TO PRODUCE A DESIGN WHICH WOULD SUBSTANTIALLY REDUCE THE SEVERITY OF COLLISIONS WITH SUPPORTS. AS A RESULT, THE SLIP BASE DESIGN PROVED FEASIBLE FOR A MULTI-DIRECTIONAL BREAKAWAY BASE FOR LUMINAIRE SUPPORTS. /HSRI/

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Res Rept No 75-13F 82 PP, TABS, PHOTS, REFS
• Corporate Authors:

  Texas Transportation Institute

  Texas A&M University System, 1600 E Lamar Boulevard
  Arlington, TX  United States  76011
• Authors:
  • Walton, N E
  • Rowan, N J
• Publication Date: 0

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Breakaway supports; Brightness; Facilities; Glare; Highway safety; Illuminating engineering; Legibility; Luminaires; Roadside; Sign supports; Signs; Standardization; Street lighting; Systems; Visibility
• Old TRIS Terms: Illumination engineering; Sign structures
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00221243
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Highway Safety Research Institute
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Apr 25 1971 12:00AM