Carl HoltAdvance Digital GIS

Final Project

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Carl HoltAdvance Digital GIS

Final Project

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Carl HoltAdvance Digital GIS

Final Project

I. PurposeThe purpose of this project was to evaluate the location of street light in

and around the campus of North Alabama. The two parties involved in this study are The University of North Alabama and City of Florence Electricity Department. North Alabama (UNA) Maintenance Department owns and maintains all the street light found on campus on the exterior of buildings. The Florence Electricity Department (FED) maintains all the street lights on public right-of-ways and roads. The interior of campus is very well lit with an assortment of street lights. The streets in a one block radius of campus fails in properly lighting the streets for safety to pedestrians and drivers.

Provide the University of North Alabama and the City of Florence Electricity Department with information to maximize the efficiency of the current street lights. This will aid in providing the proper illumination for the safety of residents and students. The neighborhoods surrounding campus are some of the highest land values in the city, yet they lack the proper illumination. Also many students live close to campus and walk to class instead of driving. Maybe with the proper placement of street lights more students would be encouraged to walk instead of adding to the parking problem on campus.

II. MethodsThe first task was to find out what the wattage of the street lights on

campus are. UNA Maintenance Department provided extensive details on which lights have what wattage. Next, the same had to be done for the street lights owned by FED. An electrical engineer from the Electricity Department was recruited to drive around and report the wattage of street lights. From there the Electricity Department furnished a manual that expressed the illumines and radius the light extends from the fixture.

Next using a Tremble Juno ST, GPS points are taken at every street light on campus because the geographic locations are not known and an attribute table has not been compiled. The GPS points can then be uploaded onto ArcMap using a base map provided by the Electricity Department that displayed the geographic position of poles, lights, streets, edge-of-pavement, buildings, and electrical lines. The height was recorded using a digital hypsometer, provided by the UNA Geography Department. The height, wattage, and illumines of each light pole was placed into an attribute file.

The GPS points were downloaded with Pathfinder Office and exported as a shapefile to ArcMap. The shapefile was then projected to overlay the basemap. Next, a buffer was created to show the extent of illumination from the fixture. Different sized buffers were used to show the different amount of light output that each sized bulb and fixture produce.

III. AnalysisThe areas that UNA controls have amble light and there are few areas that

lack the proper illumination. The streets and surrounding neighborhoods lack street lights. It is a policy of FED to place street lights 400 feet apart and at intersections, (Chip Rasch, Electrical Engineer). The areas that needed more street lights are only found in the neighborhoods surrounding UNA.

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Carl HoltAdvance Digital GIS

Final Project

IV. ConclusionIn conclusion, the campus of North Alabama has proper light from the

quad to every dormitory parking lot. The City of Florence, however, is lacking and needs to upgrade the street light infrastructure around the campus. The four areas that need attention are: an alley connecting Parking Lot Z to Wood Ave, Irvine Ave and Court Street, Willingham Street and Hawthorne Street, and Irvine Ave and Wood Ave. The alley needs the most attention because two large dormitories containing 148 students, mostly females, and a large commuter parking lot. The alley cuts between two houses and that cuts off a large amount of light that would shine from the lights on the parking lot and Wood Ave. This alley is heavily traveled by students. Next, the intersection of Court Street and Irvine Ave is a heavily traveled intersection and a very confusing of drivers. The addition of more street lights would lower the amount of accidents that happen at the intersection. Third, the area around the intersection of Willingham Street and Hawthorne Street is located behind four dormitories and is major route to the campus and parking garage. There are many students living near this intersection and many accidents are preventable by installing more street lights. Fourth, the intersection of Wood Ave and Irvine Ave has a traffic light, but no street light. It is important that this intersection by properly lit because the main entrance is located one block west of the intersection and three apartment buildings are within 100 yards of this heavily traveled intersection.

The improvement of street lights can only help the campus and surrounding neighborhoods. The land values will increase because of the placement of new street lights. Students would be more willing to walk to class and not drive onto campus looking for a parking space. The addition of street lights is a win-win situation for the students, citizens, and university.

Special thanks goes out to the University of North Alabama, Geography Department for furnishing the GPS and hypsometer. The City of Florence Electricity Department for providing the base map, layers, street light information, and the assistants of electrical engineer Allen Caddell. The assistance of David Austin in using the hypsometer.

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