Emesa carry out continuous monitoring and correct regulation of the lighting on the M-30. The objective is to guarantee the best possible visibility for drivers and to detect any issue with the lighting in order to be able to solve it as soon as possible.
There are around 40,000 lights that are permanently on and a total of over 53,000 lights that are on in certain time slots.
The base lighting in the M-30 tunnels is a white coloured ambient light, designed to prevent drivers from feeling claustrophobic. These lights are located from the beginning to the end of the tunnels. This type of lighting works with FVI type T5 luminaires with a lifespan of over 24,000 hours.
These infrastructures are also equipped with a double continuous line of fluorescent lights for permanent lighting.
The lighting system of the M-30 controls glare and maintains continuous overhead lighting in order to prevent the risk of any flickering. The IP65 rating of the lighting systems maintain their photometric performance by ensuring complete resistance to dust and water.
It is very important that the intensity of the light is regulated correctly and that proper maintenance of the lighting systems is carried out to ensure the safety of drivers. The light intensity is therefore regulated from the Tunnel Control Centre and is varied according to a range of different factors.
The number of vehicles that use this route in Madrid and also the time of day are taken into account. During the day, the lighting power is greater than at night. In the case of any incident, the lighting power would be at the maximum to guarantee the best conditions on the road and maximum safety for road users.
The areas around the entrances and exits to the tunnel are especially important, as the light changes are very abrupt. It takes several seconds for the human eye to adapt to the change of moving from a very bright area, such as natural sunlight, to a dark area. White light projectors are used to gradually illuminate the entrances and exits to the tunnels to ensure that the visibility of the user is regulated.
One of the technological systems of the M-30 Control Centre used to monitor the lighting status is the LOADA (Lights Off Automatic Detection Algorithm). This is an own development tool that controls the permanent lighting on the road, locating the low points of permanent lighting through a comparison of images, to identify ‘dark spots’.
Following this comparison, the LOADA tool provides an overall result of the lighting points that have been treated, showing a percentage of the light sources that work correctly.
Once this information has been received, replacements can be scheduled from the maintenance department, in accordance with the needs of each area, prioritising the areas that need it most.
