Washington, D.C.’s New Egress Tunnel Lighting Installation

The Washington D.C. Department of Transportation recently turned to Light Tape to deliver the Pedestrian Egress System in the I-395 Mall Tunnel’s new Advanced Traffic Management System (ATMS). To meet the safety needs of the tunnel system and provide a high quality light that could be trusted for its longevity and visual appeal, AECOM chose Light Tape based on its endurance, reliability, flexibility, and customization specifications.

6650 lf of 2-in. Extreme Blue-Green directional chevron Light Tape, and thirty-three 24-in. x 36-in. Extreme Blue-Green Light Tape running man signs were deployed throughout the tunnel to complete part of the ATMS’s Pedestrian Egress Systems low-level lighting component.

Paul King, Senior Project Engineer from AECOM, states that the Light Tape system, “allows better flexibility in design, installation, and visual appeal.”

Light Tape, which can be cut to exact length and width requirements, was broken into 33 illuminated clusters. Each cluster consisting of one customized Extreme Blue-Green Light Tape running man that was covered in green micro-prismatic reflective vinyl indicating the distance to the nearest exit, and 200 feet of Extreme Blue-Green directional chevron Light Tape extending from either side.

M.C. Dean installed & mounted the illuminated clusters using 3MVHB double sided tape from the directional chevron, and tamper-resistant kwik bolts for the running man signs.

Lighting control is handled by Light Tape’s Smart Driver AC power supplies (models SD-8000 and SD-4000), ranging from 90-110 volts. Input current to the the Smart Driver ballasts is provided via a programmable logic controller that helps ensure on-time accurate safety and traffic flow by sending either consistent or flash mode signals to the 16 remote cabinets mounted throughout the tunnel.

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