Day/Night led sector light VLS-46 in Carpenter Rocks, Australia

Background

Carpenter Rocks is a small coastal town situated 35km south west of Mount Gambier in the south east of South Australia. The area faces the Southern Ocean and is renowned for its rugged coastline, which provides exceptional fishing and diving locations. South Australia’s Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure (DPTI) decided to upgrade to a more precise sector light on a single station replacing the current 2-station leading lights in the bay.

Solutions

Critical Asset Protection, an Australian specialist on buoyage systems and navigation equipment to government and industry, was awarded the contract to design, install, and commission the new sector light and navigation tower at Carpenter Rocks by DPTI. A set of Vega’s VLS-46 LED Sector Projectors with 5° subtense was proposed to replace the existing lights. This high-resolution VLS-46 is powered by LEDs, and uses a separate projector for each colour. Typical boundary resolution of 3 minutes of arc. Range is up to 0.8NM by day, 12NM at night @ 0.74T.

The beam angle inside each projector is user-adjustable in the horizontal plane from 100% to 10% of the maximum beam angle. The base plate allows for accurate adjustment of the projectors so that colour boundaries are correctly aligned.

The Carpenter Rocks Project required a set of 3x VLS-46-5D LED Projectors: 1xRed, 1xWhite, 1xGreen, each one with 0.5 degree sector, fixed character, working both day and night. Red-white-green reading left to right looking at the beacons from the sea.

Outcomes

The new lights with solar power supply system were mounted on the top of a purposed built metal tower in the bay to enable the local fisherman to navigate more safely into the bay. Planning Engineer of DPTI, Gonz Uyttenhove, said:

“We are very pleased with the end product. The project ran very smoothly, the works were well planned and there was great cooperation between all parties. I am looking forward to working with Critical Asset Protection again in the future on any other projects that might arise. Thanks again, and well done.”