CHAPTER IV

ROAD LIGHTING

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 COURSE OUTLINE
 Importance of road lighting
 Factors influencing night visibility
 Requirements of level of illumination in roads
 Design of the lighting system: selection of
height of lamps, spacing between light poles,
height and overhang of light poles, lateral
placement, etc.

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 IMPORTANCE OF ROAD LIGHTING
• To reduce accidents in night driving which are
caused by insufficient lighting
• To see accurately and easily the carriageway and
the immediate surroundings in darkness
• To avoid glare effect
• To ensure comfort and confident driving
• Indirect benefit: reduction in crime, feeling
security, proper aesthetic appearance and
extension of business hour after sunset
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 Principle of road lighting
• Discerning object by Silhouette – luminosity of
the object is lesser than the background
• Discerning object by reverse silhouette –
luminosity of the object is higher than the
background
• Discerning object by Surface Details – the
parts of the object has different luminosity
• The basic principle is to make the object
visible by Silhouette
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 FACTORS INFLUENCING NIGHT VISIBILITY

• Amount of distribution of light flux from the

lamps
• Size of the objects
• Brightness of object
• Brightness of the background
• Reflecting characteristics of pavement surface
• Glare on the eyes of the driver
• Time available to see an object
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DESIGN FACTORS OF HIGHWAY LIGHTING
• LAMPS
– Depends on distribution of light flux on the pavement
– Prefer largest lamp size in a luminaries for sufficient
uniformity of pavement brightness
– Filament, fluorescent and sodium or mercury vapour
lamps: filament=cheapest, sodium-vapour lamps for
large intersection

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• LUMINAIRE DISTRUBTION OF LIGHT
– To have best utility of the luminaire or source of light, it is
necessary to have proper distribution of light and should
be downward to have maximum uniformity of pavement
brightness.
– Types of distribution
• Type I-design for center mounting over streets up to 2.0 mounting
heights, for narrow roads
• Type II- design for mounting over curb line of the street widths less
than 1.5 *mounting height, for narrow road
• Type III-design for mounting over curb line of the street widths less
than 2*mounting height, for road with medium width
• Type IV- design for mounting over curb line of the street widths
greater than 2*mounting height, for very wide highway
• Type V- design to distribute light equally in lateral direction, for
center of highway and intersection

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 Provided at center (15 degrees)

Provided at edge (nearly semi-

circle)

Provided at edge (25 degrees)

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• SPACING OF LIGHTING UNITS
– Influenced by the electrical distribution poles, property lines, road
layout
– Large lamps with mountings and wide spacing should be preferred from
economy point of view
• HEIGHT AND OVERHANGING OF MOUNTING
– Glare on eyes from the mounting lights increase with power of the lamp
directed towards the eye and decrease with increase in height of
mounting.
– Preferred height is between 6 to 10 m
– Overhangs on the lighting poles would keep away from the pavement
edges, but still allow the lamp to be held above the kerb or towards the
pavement enabling better distribution of light on the pavement and less
glare on eyes of road users.
– Overhang of 1.8 m (distance between edge of carriageway and lamps).
– Higher value makes shadow at the edge
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• LATERAL PLACEMENT (Outreach)
– The distance between column and the lantern mounted on a
bracket (horizontal distance)
– Street lighting poles should not be installed close to the
pavement edge.
– If close to the carriageway, free movement of traffic is
obstructed, decreasing the capacity of road way.
• LIGHHTING LAYOUTS
– On the straight roads the lighting layout may be of the following
types
* Single side
* Staggered (both sides) * Opposite (both sides)
* Central

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 REQUIREMENTS OF LEVEL OF
ILLUMINATION IN ROADS
• Distribution should be downward
• It should produce maximum uniformity of
pavement brightness
• It should cover adjacent area 3-5 m beyond
the pavement edge
• For the main highways 30 lux, for the main
roads 15 lux and for secondary roads 4-8 lux

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 DESIGN OF THE LIGHTING SYSTEM
1. height of lamps
• Usually mounting height=6 to 10 m
2. spacing between light poles
• Rough guide, spacing=3-5 times of mounting height
• General spacing=35-45 m but should not exceed 55m
• Spacing may be determined by quality of illumination
needed on different street.
Spacing= lamp lumen X Coef. Of utilization X Maintenance factor
Average lux X width
maintenance factor=80%
Coeff. Of utilisation is obtained from graph corresponding to the
pavement width and mounting

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3. Lateral placement
• Street lighting poles should not be installed close to the pavement
edge.
• IRC recommendation
o For roads with raised kerbs: min 0.3 m (desirable 0.6 m) from the
edge of raised kerb
o For roads without raised kerbs: min 1.5 m from the edge of the
carriageway.( subject to minimum of 5m from the center line of
the carriageway.)

4. Computation of uniformity ratio

• Designer should check the uniformity of illumination.
• Uniformity ration= average illumination < 4:1
minimum illumination
Preferable < 3:1
If not, redesign.

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5. Selection of types of lamps
• Filament bulbs for minor street & pedestrian
walkways
• Fluorescent light for shopping street but they
have short lamp life
• High-pressure sodium light produce excellent
luminous efficiency, long life (4000 hours) and
acceptable color.
• Low pressure sodium light used in tunnels and on
road where high illumination levels an more
uniform lights are required.

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 Example: 1
• Design a street lighting system for the
following condition.
Street width=5 m
Mounting height=7.5 m
Lamp size=6000 ,umen
Luminaries type=II
Calculate the spacing between lighting units to
produce average LUX=6.0

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 Example: 2
• Calculate the distance between luminaire type
II when lux=7.0, road width=14m, mounting
height=8 m and lamp size =7000lumen.
Discuss overreach, overhang, mounting
height and luminaries arrangement.

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