Plug being pulled on the Blatnik Bridge lights.

[Mdcastle]

The plug is being pulled on the Blatnik Bridge decorative lights. This year starts a two year $12 million renovation and the lights need to come down due to the need to sandblast the structural steel, and the advanced deterioration of the conduit. Mn/DOT has offered to pay half the $1.2 million cost of putting the lights back up,so it's up to Wisconsin or some local agency to come up with the balance. The luminaires will be saved for possible reuse, but there is talk about using LED luminaires as replacements to reduce energy and maintenance costs.

[Mdcastle]

The new downlighting design, which won out over uplighting or outline lighting options. The new lights will be LEDs, but not color changable.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

I'm sort of excited to see how this will look in action. I'm glad they at least were able to find the money to replace the lights; it certainly wouldn't have been the same without them. I always love driving over the Blatnik when it's lit.

[Mdcastle]

I'm not sure what I think of it. Lighitng up all the steel is cool but it may be less neat if they eventually switch to LED roadway lights, and I think the concrete piers are bulky and ugly compared to the steel structure.

[froggie]

Why not color changeable?  That's one of the nice things about the I-35W bridge lights.

[DaBigE]

Why not color changeable?  That's one of the nice things about the I-35W bridge lights.

$.
Costs more to install/maintain controllers and more complex light units.

[Mdcastle]

It might be a good question to ask Mn/DOT, but I'd speculate that one or more of:
1) I get the idea that money's tight, and Mn/DOT was originally insisting someone else pay for the lights or they could stay dark. Cool White LEDs are more economical to buy, operate, and maintain then seperate Red, Green, and Blue LEDs as needed for color changes. And I suspect money is why. But also:

2) It's replacing an existing installation of about the same color, rather than a new installation.
3) You're simply lighting up a beautiful bridge, rather than trying o add ornementation to a plain (I won't go so far as to call it ugly) bridge.
4) They're working with an LED fixture manufacturer, and the manufacturer might have wanted specific fixtures to be used.