ASSIGN#4

Street lighting is the use of lights to illuminate public spaces, roads, and pathways to
improve visibility and safety at night or in low-light conditions. Street lights are typically
mounted on poles or columns on the side of the road or in the median, or hung from wires
above the road. Street lighting is important for a number of reasons, including: Safety: Street
lighting helps prevent accidents and enhances personal security, Visibility: Street lighting helps
people see where they are walking at night, Urban character: Street lighting can define a
positive urban character and support nighttime activities, Glare: Street lighting can improve
glare from oncoming vehicles. Street lights can be made from different types of bulbs,
including: Mercury-vapor lamps: These are older and last longer, and are typically blue in color,
Sodium vapor lamps: These are newer and more efficient, and are typically orange in color and
lastly Induction fluorescent lamps: These lamps can last up to 100,000 hours before requiring
maintenance, and consume less electricity than mercury vapor lamps.
Street lighting is required along the road to have safer, comfortable, convenient and
efficient movement of vehicles at night. The primary objectives of street lighting are − Street
lighting is required to increase or enhance the community value of the street, Street lighting is
provided along the road sides to make traffic and obstructions on the road clearly visible in
order promote safety and convenience, Street lights also make the street more attractive and
Street lighting improves the traffic speed and the traffic flow conditions.
When designing street lighting in the Philippines, some things to consider include:
Luminance: The brightness of the road surface as seen by a moving observer. This is affected by
the light intensity, the type of luminaires, and the road's brightness and reflections. Surface
luminance: This adds depth and interest to the outdoor scene, and is important for visibility
and driver safety. Pole height and spacing: The spacing between poles should be about 2.5–3
times the height of the pole. Shorter poles should be closer together. Lamp types and
characteristics: This includes depreciation factors. Fixture mounting types: This includes pole
types, mounting options, and loading considerations. Energy and life-cycle costs: This includes
the cost of implementation. Other things to consider when designing street lighting include
Glare, Color rendering index, Visual inducement, Smart control, Luminaire aesthetics, High lamp
efficacy and luminaire efficiency, High lumen maintenance and short lamp restrike. Street
lighting can help to improve visibility, reduce night-time crashes, and help people feel safe. It
can also help to reduce crime, such as vandalism and theft. The principles of lighting design
focus on functionality, aesthetics, and safety. They involve creating a balance between task
lighting, accent lighting, and ambient lighting, while also considering the overall aesthetics of
the space and ensuring it is safely illuminated.
Main factors which we should pay attention to? Street lighting evaluation indicators
include average road luminance Lav (road average illuminance, road minimum illuminance),
brightness uniformity, longitudinal uniformity, glare, environmental ratio SR, Color Rendering
Index, and visual inducement.
For designing the street lighting scheme, the following two general principles are usually
employed − Diffusion Principle. In the diffusion principle of design of street lighting, the lamps fitted
with suitable reflectors are used. The design of the reflectors is such that they direct the light
downwards and spread it as uniformly as possible over the surface of the road. To avoid the glare, the
reflectors are made to have a cut-off between 30° to 45° so that the lamp filament is not visible except
below the lamp. As the surface of the road has diffusing nature causes the reflection of a certain portion
of the incident light in the direction of the observer and hence the road surface appears bright to the
observer. Specular Reflection Principle. In case of specular reflection principle, the reflectors are curved
upward so that the light is thrown on the road at a very large angle of incidence. In this case, the
observer requires to see the objects about 30 meters away. This method of street lighting is only
suitable for straight sections of the road. This method of street lighting is more economical than
diffusion method, but it suffers from the disadvantage that it produces glare for the observers.

The advantages of the street lighting are given as follows − Street lighting creates a pleasant
atmosphere during night time, Street lighting prevents the illegal works and anti-social activities on the
roads. Street lighting reduces the accident rate during night and Street lighting also helps in reducing the
crimes at night, etc. The main disadvantages of the street lighting are as follows − It consumes large
amount of electricity, Sometimes it is an expensive process. During installation and maintenance, it may
cause traffic jam, etc.