VIDEO: EastLink leads the way with tunnel lighting upgrade

VIDEO

After a lighting upgrade, the EastLink tunnels are the first major tunnels in Victoria to be lit by LED lights.

Over four nights, 1,066 High Pressure Sodium (HPS) lights were replaced with 1,174 new LED lights.

The new LED lights are brighter and whiter than the old orange HPS lights:

The upgraded lighting will improve safety for motorists, by making the driving task easier.

Operators in the EastLink control room are benefiting from an improvement in the quality of CCTV images.

EastLink incident response personnel and emergency services will also benefit, as brighter, whiter lighting will make the management of incident sites easier.

For example, if a motorist is injured in a vehicle collision, attending paramedics will find that the new brighter, whiter lighting will assist with their treatment of the injured person.

Should there be a vehicle fire, Fire Rescue Victoria will have a brighter environment in which to operate their equipment.

The new LED lighting system consumes less power than the old HPS system. The estimated 26% power reduction will reduce green house gas emissions by around 469 tonnes each year.

The old lights will be recycled by an accredited specialist recycler.

Watch the video here:

Up to 60 technicians and 22 scissor lifts worked through the night to remove the old HPS lights and install the new LED lights:

Finishing touches are applied to this major upgrade:

The new tunnel lights completed and ready for traffic:

One of the 1,174 new LED lights that were installed in the EastLink tunnels: