Dark lighting award for WRTL

Edited by the Buildingtalk editorial team May 20, 2005

The M6 Toll, Britain's first privately funded motorway, has been recognised as a leading light in an environmental award scheme.

The M6 Toll lighting scheme, supplied by WRTL Exterior Lighting, has received the Campaign for Dark Skies Award for lighting that shines where it is needed and is not wasted.

The campaign against excessive and inefficient lighting is part of efforts to restore the beauty of the night sky.

Campaign for Dark Skies is the pressure campaign by the British Astronomical Association which aims to reduce the waste light spillage of the UK's exterior lighting infrastructure.

Regional CfDS officer, Matt Dugas, stated: "The M6 Toll lighting scheme is most deserving of the BAA CfDS Good Lighting Award." Nick Lakin, Marketing Manager for WRTL, commented: "We are delighted to receive this award, in recognition of our efforts to meet the stringent light technical performance specifications for the route".

"We are very sympathetic to the aims of CfDS and do our best to comply with its objectives where scheme specifications allow." On the M6 Toll WRTL supplied nearly 4000 Vectra lanterns for highway and slip road lighting, floodlighting for the 10 toll stations and low maintenance 2816 tunnel luminaires in the new M6 underpass tunnel.

Vectra lanterns have been widely used for lighting roads, highways and motorways across the UK and internationally, both in new and refurbishment projects.

Vectra's advanced optics offer exceptional uniformity and spacing and, with the flat glass specified for the M6 Toll, met very rigorous environmental requirements for total light cut-off, eliminating any upward component or light spill beyond the perimeter of the roadway.

Depending on their location, the Vectra lanterns are mounted at heights between 6 and 12 metres, and use SON lamps between 100W and 400W.

The 27 mile toll motorway gives drivers the choice of reliable journey times and a free-flowing alternative to the congested M6 through the West Midlands.

Tom Fanning, Managing Director of M6 Toll operator Midland Expressway Limited, said: "We've gone to great lengths to make sure this world-class motorway meets the highest environmental standards, not just in the type of lighting used but in other aspects such as a quieter road surface too." Note to editors: WRTL Exterior Lighting is one of Europe's largest suppliers of exterior lighting, with over 80 years of experience, and more than 500 lighting products and control systems.

Part of the Industria Group, WRTL specialises in total exterior lighting solutions for commercial and public amenity applications, including transport, roads, tunnels, infrastructure, land and cityscape, retail and leisure developments.