Fence Gate Lighting

[ryanee24]

I'm trying to find a source for the minimum required light level at a substation gate and having no luck. Any help would be appreciated!

 

[alehman]

It depends on the surroundings. If it's a rural area anywhere from 0.1 to 0.5 foot-candles may be adequate. For urban areas you may want up to 5 foot-candles or more. I would consult a roadway lighting manual.

 

[xabproject]

Will it be possible for you to give some more relevant details of this project - which country, code compliances, SSD or non-SSD gates etc.
best regards,

 

[ryanee24]

The substation is located within a campus, so not a rural location. Located in the US. I remember when my co-workers from a previous company designed lighting they would place fixtures near the fence gate but I can't find any information as to what the minimum (if any) requirement would be. I'm thinking more along the lines of 3-5 foot candles but would just like to make sure there is no minimum requirement, either by IEEE or NFPA.

Thank you for the responses!

 

[jghrist]

Lighting levels for substations are covered in NESC, Table 111-1. These are recommended, not required levels. There is nothing for substation fence gates, but the general horizontal level for substations is 2 foot-candles.

 

[fluxcap]

I have used the recommended level for a security gate from IES before.... they recommend 1FC (.25 min) for vehicle and 2FC(1 min) for pedestrian access points. They use a 25' or 50' area.

The substation guides for rural substations use a 1FC uniform number for the equipment areas.

I agree that it definitely varies on the location as we have designed many substations with no lighting at all at the gates.

 

[xabproject]

I hold the same view as jghrist and fluxcap that the levels of illumination are "rcommended" and not 'compulsory' let alone be specific to "gates", and add further that the 'working' planes are "whimsical" (for example, some cases it is floor level and in some other cases 850mm above floor level etc).

If you have Intrusion detecting Video Cams then it is clear that the lux level is commensurate with the cam capability vis-a-vis worst weather conditions of the place.
If the fence gate is of "electrically operated barrier type" then provide illumination that is sufficient for carrying out maintenence activities, if any.
Normally 30 lux or 2.8 ftcd should be enough.
It will be prudent to consider the feed for the lamps from emergency supply.

Havoc can be played by additional things like "average illumination", "minimum illumination" or "ratio if Max to min illumination", " ratio of day time to night time illumination" etc in these seemingly simple 'lighting designs'. So please exercise necessary caution!
Generally, people are happy with two outdoor decorative/ornamental fittings, one each on the two gate posts!!