The project is a joint effort between the JTA, the City of Jacksonville, the Florida Department of Transportation and the First Coast Metropolitan Planning Organization. Spanning 1,680ft over the St. Johns River, the massive Main Street Bridge, which was completed in 1939, carries traffic traveling on U.S. Rte. 1 and has become a landmark in downtown Jacksonville. Made of eleven steel stringer spans and three Warren through trusses, the continuous truss vertical lift span at the center is the longest in Florida. The individual lights will work similar to pixels on a video screen and show various pre-programmed lighting effects, such as a unique design featuring the team colours of the Super Bowl winner at the completion of the game on Feb. 6, 2005.
The OptiLED lamps were selected because of the brightness of the optically enhanced LEDs, their durability to withstand the outdoor elements, and their ability to use 85 percent less electricity than conventional lights.
"We're trying to create an experience," said Brent Shelly, senior lighting designer for Stone Mountain Lighting Group of Atlanta. "We chose the OptiLED luminaires because they are line voltage and don't need remote power supplies, making the installation more contractor-friendly. Since the bridge is a vintage structure, we had to be careful with the amount of extraneous hardware that would need to be attached to it. Plus the optics in the lights provided us with the viewing angle and distribution needed."
OptiLED's Linear Optical Array uses a LPI-tailored optical system for pure color mixing with improved uniformity, which results in higher brightness and sharper images. The lamp's micro-diffuser optic option allows different viewing angles with low loss of light while the UV coated lens covers resist UV damage and scratching. The built-in switched-mode power supply improves data transmission as it avoids the power fluctuations that interfere with data. And if one unit goes out, the others in the serial data path will continue to function, making it easier to spot a faulty unit in a long segment.
Other current OptiLED installations include the International Spy Museum, CNN Studios in Atlanta, the Houston Ballet, and DollyWorld USA in Tennessee.
(Sarah Rushton-Read)
