poolbeg

from reading an ESB standard reply posted to a member of boards.ie
the light is here to stay, and they will add the same to tower two.

they claim that the old red lights are obsolete after 30 years, this is
unbelievable.

the lighs are for aviation they say,

more later
regards Brian

well if you cannot see the towers in broad daylight you should not be allowed anywhere near a plane.
stephen.

This is the reply from boards.ie, I guess contacting the Aviation Authority is the next step. Is Dave Gradwell around?

New chimney lights have been installed on Poolbeg Chimney No. 1 and are
under test at present. The previous lights were over thirty years of age,
were failing regularly and were in need of replacement as spare parts could
not be obtained.

The Poolbeg chimneys are on the flight path from one of the runways at
Dublin Airport. Because of the height of the chimney, the lights are
aircraft warning lights rather than helicopter warning lights, which are
visible on lower chimneys in the Dublin area, including our own Combined
Cycle chimneys in Poolbeg. The new lights have to comply with the latest
aviation authority standards* for chimneys of that height (680') and are
brighter than the old lights.

Aviation standards dictate how the lights are set up and their intensity.
ESB is required to comply with these standards. The lights will be lit day
and night. There are three light intensity settings - day, twilight and
night, which is lowest.

It is proposed that similar lights will be fitted to Chimney No. 2 in the
next few weeks once testing and commissioning is finished on Chimney No. 1

* ICAO Annex 14, Volume 1, Third Edition July 1999, Chapter 6, Table
6.3


Regards,
Denis McCabe

I spoke to denis mccabe

here is some background

old lights were neon 3000 CANDELA
(but were not any where near that power after 34 years of dublins
dirty grim caused by big chimneys no doubt)

new lights
200,000 CANDELA daytime
20,000 CANDELA dusk
2,000 CANDELA nighttime

there are 4 lights at the top of chimney one, each facing
north south east & west, and another set lower.

chimney two will have the same by next week~ give or take.

will the lights sync?
will there be double the illumination next week?

They (esb) are not allowed fix the old as it won’t comply with the SI's
so the obsolete argument is no longer relevant but still being used.

there are still some adjustments being made, but these are all to avoid
lighting downward, not upward! there may be cases where the light is
leaking downward onto buildings, and final adjustments are being made,
after that ESB can't touch these lights.

ESB say they are fulfilling statutory instruments set down by IAA,
IAA adopt rules from www.icao.int/

Ireland is member of icao.

expect more on this.
bfn brian greene

What a rough call,
It doesnt sound like your going to win this one, especially if they can quote IAA regulations.
And they're going to put up more of these lights, as if one wasn't bad enough.

This is a sad sign of things to come, and not only in Poolbeg...



Seanie.

Well theres none on killiney hill yet, and its higher and a lot easier to crash into, and its already got a air traffic beacon on it.

The best chance would be if the IAA has specific guidelines for built up areas. Having one light on top of and one in the middle of the towers is silly, surley one at the top and a lower power one at the middle would suffice.

Must see if folks in the UK have come up against this

Cheers,
~Al