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Australia - Lighting up the Towers of Bolte Bridge

Built in 1999, the Bolte Bridge spans Melbourne’s Yarra River and features two 140m high silver towers, situated on either side of the roadway at the midpoint of the bridge's span. It was designed by architects Dentor Corker Marshal and named after the former Premier of Victoria Sir Henry Bolte. It is one of the largest balanced cantilever cast in situ box girder bridges in Australia and forms part of the CityLink system of toll roads.

GRIVEN’s authorized dealer for Australia, the ULA Group, cooperates closely with the leading Melbournian architects and lighting companies to light up the city’s iconic structures. After the successful re-lighting of the Melbourne 'Red Sticks’, the ULA Group was invited to head up, supply and design another project managed by Transurban - illuminating the towers of Bolte Bridge. When the old lighting system of the bridge had reached the end of its life, it was an opportunity to look at how to enhance the lighting while also helping to meet Australian energy reduction targets.

Working closely with Transurban’s engineers and after several site tests, the decision was made by ULA Group to replace 42 high-powered metal halide lights on the bridge towers with 36 GRIVEN Powershine MK2 D RGBW LED exterior wash luminaires. The fixtures were installed on newly erected platforms at the base of each column using a combination of spot and medium optics to achieve even coverage and maximum light output. Once the installation of the new LED lighting system was complete, Transurban reported a reduction in energy usage by incredible 89% - the power usage for the Bridge lights went from 327,000kWh per year to 36,000kWh per year.

The components and replaced fittings from the previous lighting system were recycled and re-used wherever possible. The new GRIVEN LED lighting fittings have an estimated operating life of more than 50,000 hours, which is much longer than the previous system. The new GRIVEN Powershine MK2 D LED wash lights also create endless possibilities to achieve dynamic colour changing scenes, which can illuminate the Bolte’s iconic towers in different hues, to support and involve the bridge in special cultural and sporting events (with the consent of the State and other authorities).

Powershine MK2 D RGBW uses a total of 192 powerful RGBW LEDs and is available with a vast choice of optics for the maximum lighting design flexibility. Owing to its double cluster configuration, which offers full independent control of each LED bank, this wall washer allows absolute freedom to create matching or divergent effects on formerly prohibitive large scale facades and remote spots.
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The new LED luminaries were strategically installed and positioned at the base of each tower to minimize the risk of glare to passing motorists and reduce 'light spill'. The environmental benefits and cost savings achieved in this project, stand as a great example of how to replace ‘out-of-date’ lighting installations with new resourceful and sustainable solutions. Over all, the results are both aesthetically pleasing, energy efficient and culturally sustainable, which assimilates perfectly into Melbourne’s progressive city environment.

Products installed:
36 x AL3690 Powershine MK2 D RGBW
58 x AL3712 Spot optics
14 x AL3714 Medium optics

For additional information please contact:
Lenka Šatánková
Phone: +61 7 5509 4633
Email: lenkas@ulagroup.com
Web: www.ulagroup.com
FB: https://www.facebook.com/Total.Visual.Solutions