| June
2005
LEDs Light Up LA's Harbor Bridge
 TORRANCE,
CA - June 13, 2005 -- When Los Angeles Mayor James Hahn threw the switch
and the lights sparkled for the first time on the Vincent Thomas Bridge it
was hard to determine who beamed brighter: The new blue LED lights or the
residents of San Pedro, California, who after 17 years of setbacks finally
saw their bridge adorned with the lights they had long envisioned.
Funding, energy shortages, migrating birds and a pair of nesting peregrine
falcons had all thwarted previous attempts to string lights across the
mile-long span. While frustrating, the delays proved beneficial in the
end. Advances in lighting technology enabled the ideal solution -- LEDs,
which were unavailable in 1988 when the campaign began to light the
bridge. The Blue LED lamps that top the bridge's suspension cables were
provided by Los Angeles-adjacent LEDtronics Inc. "They work as we
expected, but seeing all the LED lamps lit up was amazing," remarked
Pervaiz Lodhie, president of LEDtronics.
Poised high above the main channel of the Los Angeles Harbor, the Vincent
Thomas Bridge plays several roles in the local community and beyond. It is
the official welcoming monument for the City of Los Angeles. As the third
longest suspension bridge in California, behind the Golden Gate and San
Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, it is source of local pride. Additionally,
the Vincent Thomas Bridge plays an integral part in the economies of Los
Angeles, southern California and the United States as a whole. It is the
main conduit through which goods flow from the Los Angeles Harbor, the
busiest port in the country and the eighth busiest in the world, to the
nation's network of highways, stores and consumers. The effort to light
the Vincent Thomas Bridge began as a grass-roots effort by the residents
of San Pedro who held a variety of fund raisers from organizing bridge
walks and selling commemorative items to placing collection cans in local
stores. Even with all the setbacks, community support for the project
never wavered. 
LEDtronics was brought into the project by Lighting Design Alliance of
Long Beach, CA who, on the behalf of the Vincent Thomas Bridge Lighting
Committee, investigated LEDs as a viable solution for lighting the bridge.
Jordon Papanier, LEDtronics' Marketing Manager, first met with the
Committee in the spring of 1999 to demonstrate LED bulbs and introduced
them to LED technology and its benefits. For over five years, LEDtronics
collaborated with community leaders, civil agencies and environmentalists
to develop an LED light that would be acceptable to all parties.
Pervaiz Lodhie of LEDtronics proposed the innovative idea of
implementing solar-energy
in tandem with the LED lights. A 4.5-kilowatt solar-panel system located
near the bridge generates electricity that is then sold to the Los Angeles
Department of Water and Power. While the LED lights themselves do not
directly tap into the solar-generated power, the Vincent Thomas Bridge is
the first of its kind to leverage solar-generated power to pay for the
cost of operating decorative lighting. A total of 160 LED fixtures light
both sides of the bridge, 80 LEDtronics units affixed to the apex of the
suspension cables along with an additional 80 located at deck level. Each
LED fixture consumes only 19.5 Watts of power, making LEDs the perfect
complement to solar energy. Several variations of LED lamps were tested
before the solar-powered, environmentally friendly Blue 360-LED lamp
received the go-ahead. Blue was chosen because of it would standout amid
the amber-colored lights and maritime navigation indicators in the Los
Angeles Harbor.
Visible to the nearby communities as well as vacationers at the Princess
Cruises' terminal and vessels entering or exiting the main channel of the
Los Angeles Harbor, the Vincent Thomas Bridge with its sparkling blue
lights will enchant tourists and mariners alike and, undoubtedly, become
an internationally recognizable icon for the Los Angeles region. The
illuminated bridge is already the cornerstone of an effort aimed at
transforming the waterfront into a dynamic area for both for leisure and
industry. Most importantly, the Vincent Thomas Bridge represents what can
be achieved with a lot of determination and a little technology.
Link to: LED
Monthly
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