Businesses and municipal entities with outdated parking lot lights and poles face a number of problems that can result from poor distribution of light, inferior build and manufacture, and short lamp life. Older parking lot poles that appear obviously weathered present an eyesore to the public and diminish corporate branding by making a facility look run down. Legal problems can result if vandalism or criminal attack occurs on a property whose parking lot lights produce insufficient levels of light. Many business owners do not know that the law requires 3-4 foot candles of light to be evenly distributed on any parking lot regardless of the type of business it adjoins. If property damage or injury to persons occur under lighting conditions below regulatory standards, a business could conceivably face a third party negligence law suit and/or possible government fines for failure to comply with equipment codes. Furthermore, even if facilities are in foot-candle municipal code compliance, there are additional minimum requirements poles and lights must meet in reference to wind velocity resistance, minimal glare that can actually blind the eyes and cause accidents and vulnerability to attack, and ?pockets? of shadow that create opportunities for intrusion. All of these problems can be quickly resolved with a call to many comopanies specialist who can develop a parking lot design custom to any facility and specific to any business they may service.
Just a few of the many features resident in the engineering and construction of a parking lot lights warrant close and careful scrutiny. Since a number of people reside in western states such as Nevada, Arizona, West Texas, New Mexico, and California, wind velocities in the desert can gust up to 100 miles an hour at times and drive dust with such force it becomes tiny projectiles. Parking lot lights in these environments must meet with local governing codes that ensure their ability to remain standing in high wind, and they must come equipped with lamps that can endure a beating at times without breaking or burning out. Easy Rack parking lot poles consist of carbonized steel shafts that can endure tremendous buffeting from the wind, and strong glass fixtures that protect bright, minimum glare halide bulbs from breaking in sandstorms. We also carry shorter, ornamental poles for more quiet and rural regions of the nation, and we help municipalities and small towns decorate city squares and courtyards with short parking lot poles with ornamental designs that upgrade the look and feel of the town where the sidewalk and park greens meet. We have 30 foot parking lot light poles that prove ideal for car lots and major retail centers from Coast to Coast, and we have shorter poles of only 20 feet that in spite of their slightly smaller height can nonetheless cover 2500 square feet of light each when fitted with 5 foot reflectors that assist in both glare reduction and the even spread of illumination.
As a necessity, and not an option, parking lot light poles not only make it easy to see when people drive and park their cars in the facility, but they also deter crime by eliminating spots of dark shadow and debilitating, blinding glare that can contribute to criminal mischief. The return on investment that every business receives by investing in parking lot lights is admittedly often intangible, but nonetheless extremely significant. Like insurance, people often fail to realize its value until they need it. Nevertheless, having the assurance that parking lot lights at least meet with minimum compliance with government codes can give any business owner more peace of mind to know that he or she has done everything possible to minimize the risk of theft, vandalism, criminal attack, and vehicle collisions on the property. Improving the actual aesthetics of a facility constitutes a form of advertising, as no business ever suffers from an improved image and a better face to the world. Any public park or city square can only attract more visitors, and possibly more business and residents, with a thoughtful touch of new light courtesy of city hall.
There are several projects for which you might find a need to install concrete commercial light poles. Among these uses are mounting lights for tennis courts, sports arenas, and street lamps. Concrete poles have similar strength advantages seen with those made of metal, but lack the conductivity. This makes concrete preferable for electrical mounting applications. If you intend to install concrete sports light poles yourself, you will need to acquaint yourself with the mounting methods as well as knowing how to select the correct pole for your project. Once you know the basics, installing these poles can be a simple task.
When you are trying to determine which concrete commercial light pole mount is best for your project, you need to gather some specifics about the job to narrow down your choices. First of all, how high will the light be from the ground? The mount height of the pole measures from the ground to the base of the lamp, while the height of the light is from the ground to the lamp itself. If your lamp is to be mounted on an arm atop the pole mount, what is the area lit? This number, measured in square feet, is called the Effective Projected Area (EPA). You will also need to know how far away from the pole the lamp will be from the commercial outdoor pole light. This is the horizontal distance which will be the same as the length of the arm to which the lamp is attached. Once you know these numbers take a look at a wind speed map from your concrete light pole manufacturer. After finding the average wind speeds encountered in your area of the United States, you will need to go to a graph provided by the manufacturer. There will likely be a separate graph for different wind speeds. If the average wind in your area is 100 mph, then you would use the 100 mph graph. The numbers on the bottom of the graph, the x-axis, will be the EPA or the area lit by the lamp. The numbers along the side of the graph, on the y-axis, is the length of the arm holding up the lamp. The intersection of these points on the graph will tell you the class of concrete light pole that you will need to purchase. If it falls between two classes, you will need the higher of the two in the pole selection guide.
Now that you know the class of concrete light pole you need, how will you mount it? There are three common methods. The easiest and most common is a direct embedment. This is where the pole is placed into a prepared hole with a granular base for drainage in the ground and recovered with the soil. Other forms of mounting include base plate and socket. Base plate mounting involves anchoring the plates into a pre-poured, or pre-existing concrete foundation. Socket mounting also requires a concrete poured foundation where the light pole might be mounted even with the ground level, or built up higher for added strength. The mounting method will determine the length of light pole you will need. If you intend to use the simple direct embedment, then you will need to add 10% of the pole's height plus an additional two feet. Add these two numbers to the height you need the light to be from the ground and then order the length of concrete light pole which comes the closest.
Both Camille Howe & Kimberly Quang are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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