TORRANCE, CA — June 13, 2005 — When Los Angeles Mayor James Hahn threw the
switch and the lights sparkled for the first time on the Vincent Thomas
Bridge it was hard to determine who beamed brighter: The new blue LED
lights or the residents of San Pedro, California, who after 17 years of
setbacks finally saw their bridge adorned with the lights they had long
envisioned. Funding, energy shortages, migrating birds and a pair of
nesting peregrine falcons had all thwarted previous attempts to string
lights across the mile-long span. While frustrating, the delays proved
beneficial in the end. Advances in lighting technology enabled the ideal
solution -- LEDs, which were unavailable in 1988 when the campaign began
to light the bridge. The Blue LED lamps that top the bridge's suspension
cables were provided by Los Angeles-adjacent LEDtronics Inc. "They
work as we expected, but seeing all the LED lamps lit up was
amazing," remarked Pervaiz Lodhie, president of LEDtronics.
Poised
high above the main channel of the Los Angeles Harbor, the Vincent Thomas
Bridge plays several roles in the local community and beyond. It is the
official welcoming monument for the City of Los Angeles. As the third
longest suspension bridge in California, behind the Golden Gate and San
Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, it is source of local pride. Additionally,
the Vincent Thomas Bridge plays an integral part in the economies of Los
Angeles, southern California and the United States as a whole. It is the
main conduit through which goods flow from the Los Angeles Harbor, the
busiest port in the country and the eighth busiest in the world, to the
nation's network of highways, stores and consumers. The effort to light
the Vincent Thomas Bridge began as a grass-roots effort by the residents
of San Pedro who held a variety of fund raisers from organizing bridge
walks and selling commemorative items to placing collection cans in local
stores. Even with all the setbacks, community support for the project
never wavered.
LEDtronics was brought into the project by Lighting Design Alliance of
Long Beach, CA who, on the behalf of the Vincent Thomas Bridge Lighting
Committee, investigated LEDs as a viable solution for lighting the bridge.
Jordon Papanier, LEDtronics' Marketing Manager, first met with the
Committee in the spring of 1999 to demonstrate LED bulbs and introduced
them to LED technology and its benefits. For over five years, LEDtronics
collaborated with community leaders, civil agencies and environmentalists
to develop an LED light that would be acceptable to all parties.
Pervaiz Lodhie of LEDtronics proposed the innovative idea of implementing
solar-energy in tandem with the LED lights. A 4.5-kilowatt solar-panel
system located near the bridge generates electricity that is then sold to
the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. While the LED lights
themselves do not directly tap into the solar-generated power, the Vincent
Thomas Bridge is the first of its kind to leverage solar-generated power
to pay for the cost of operating decorative lighting. A total of 160 LED
fixtures light both sides of the bridge, 80 LEDtronics units affixed to
the apex of the suspension cables along with an additional 80 located at
deck level. Each LED fixture consumes only 19.5 Watts of power, making
LEDs the perfect complement to solar energy. Several variations of LED
lamps were tested before the solar-powered, environmentally friendly Blue
360-LED lamp received the go-ahead. Blue was chosen because it would
standout amid the amber-colored lights and maritime navigation indicators
in the Los Angeles Harbor.
Visible to the nearby communities as well as vacationers at the Princess
Cruises' terminal and vessels entering or exiting the main channel of the
Los Angeles Harbor, the Vincent Thomas Bridge with its sparkling blue
lights will enchant tourists and mariners alike and, undoubtedly, become
an internationally recognizable icon for the Los Angeles region. The
illuminated bridge is already the cornerstone of an effort aimed at
transforming the waterfront into a dynamic area for both for leisure and
industry. Most importantly, the Vincent Thomas Bridge represents what can
be achieved with a lot of determination and a little technology.
Founded in 1983, LEDtronics® leads where others only follow when it
comes to designing, manufacturing and packaging state-of-the-art LEDs to meet
the world's constantly changing lighting needs. Our inventive product line encompasses
an array of direct incandescent lamp replacement Based LEDs,
low-cost snap-in and relampable Panel Mount LEDs, high intensity sunlight-visible
Discrete LEDs, PCB LEDs circuit board status
indicators, surface mount diodes SMT LEDs, full-spectrum rainbow
RGB LEDs, Infra-Red (IR) and Ultraviolet
(UV) LEDs.
Prices for BSD1928 Series LED Beacon/Illuminaire are $698
to $898 each, depending on color and quantity. OEM quantity discounts are available.
Availability is stock to 4 - 6 weeks. For additional information, contact LEDtronics
toll free at 1-800-579-4875, telephone 310-534-1505, fax at 310-534-1424, click
here to email us or mail at LEDtronics Inc., 23105 Kashiwa Court, Torrance,
CA 90505. Visit our website at www.LEDtronics.com.
Ask for data sheet (log #177). The direct web link to the on-line datasheet
is as follows: LED Beacon
/ Illuminaire, One-Sided 180° Beam
The Product Used: LED Beacon, 180° Beam
BSD-1928
