The graceful 71m (232ft) span contemporary construction provides a new gateway into the city, with express bus and cycle lanes. It runs parallel to the famous Fabian Way and its elegant lines are based around a 45m (147ft) high mast and a series of 24 steel cable stays.
LTP was asked to quote on the project by Swansea Council. Being locally-based was one advantage, and the Council also became aware of their work on the London Eye lighting scheme and on other bridge schemes including the London Millennium Footbridge and the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Newcastle. LTP's project manager was Jonathan Adkins, who co-ordinated site work and installation working closely with consulting engineers, Flint & Neil.
LTP was initially asked to quote on an existing lighting design. LTP's Terry Reeves specified for design approval, choosing the equipment with great care, taking into account the need to light the bridge effectively, efficiently and within the budget.
The trick was to achieve a precise and even illumination along the length of the bridge, highlighting the mast and stays. The principal fixtures chosen for the deck lighting are We-EF 35W HIT 110 degree "eyelid" in-ground luminaires, 82 of which are positioned evenly along the deck of the bridge in two lines.
Blue and white Encapsulite MT50 21W 990mm units - 164 in total - are recessed along the outer edge of the bridge on both sides, highlighting the handrail and support detail, and these same fixtures also skim all the steel wire supports, bathing them in soft secondary light.
Shooting up from the base of the mast are five white Francis LH230 parallel beam luminaires, the extreme whiteness providing a sharp spectral contrast to the moodier blues below.
The primary cable stays are further highlighted with four white 70 Watt Meyer Superlight narrow beams, fitted with anti-glare filters, which diffuse and spread the light nicely across this specific target area.
As the main individual cables return to the base of the bridge, the ends are given a subtle glow with eight white Concord Marlin 20W discharge Michrotechno spots.
As the project progressed, Swansea council asked LTP if they would additionally light the underbelly of the bridge - which was not part of the original scheme. LTP specified 12 Color Kinetics ColorBlast 12 RGB LED fixtures with clear lenses for this task. They needed an environmentally-friendly, tough, long-life low maintenance solution as the lights are virtually inaccessible, located right underneath the bridge, with the busy Fabian Way dual carriageway road running below. The ColorBlasts fitted the bill perfectly and are set to blue to match the main bridge colour.
All light-sources in the architectural scheme are activated by a timer control at dusk, and switched off at first light.
LTP also priced, commissioned and installed the aviation beacon on top of the mast, which is an LED source - again chosen for longevity and robustness - and the lightening conductor, which was sub-contracted via Bristol-based Omega.
Terry Reeves comments: "It was fantastic working with Swansea Council on such a high profile structure, with the results speaking for themselves."
(Jim Evans)
