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Edwardes Lake Wet-Land Path (Darebin City Council)

Background

Edwardes Lake Park is very popular for family outings, especially on weekends and is a most popular jogging and walking place for every age group of the community. In order that the council promotes energy savings and environmental consciousness, Darebin City Council have undertaken a sustainabile energy project at Edwardes Lake which has included solar energy feed back to offset the green house gass impact from fossil fuel burning.

Being a sanctuary wetlands, the project had to deliver the required outcome without compromising the integrity of the wetlands and the sanctuary the park offers to two endangered animal species. In fact, due to the general eco-sensitivity of the project’s location, what was required was “dark sky” design guidelines and, of course, avoidance of energy loss and damges caused through light flooding. In consultation with Darebin Council’s landscape architects, SolarOne created a minimalist lighting array that would meet Councils goals and, we believed, be well received by the park’s user community.

The wildlife requirements has made it necessary to minimise flood lighting and to only provide minimal lighting for those promenading around the lakes shores who may enjoy the kaliedoscope of both man made and natural light from the moon and stars. In the word’s of one interviewee “Its feels so much more … enjoyable.”

Google Reference: 37 Deg 43 Min South and 144 Deg 59 Min East

Details and Aim of Installation

Project Aims
  • To make the pathway safer and more enjoyable for pedestrains and joggers after dusk by;
  • Delineating the pathway
  • Marking the hazards
  • Defining the path direction and length
Site Location
  • Google Earth 37. 42′ 44 S and 144. 57’50 E
  • Section of the Edwardes Lake Park walk. (Note: Sanctuary for threatened wildlife and unsuitable for flood lighting.)
Site Environment
  • .46 kilometers long and 2.7 meters wide
  • Pedestrian pathway
  • Two crossing of roads and paths
  • Twisting pathway with blind corners
  • Concrete surface
  • Some legacy lighting spillage but not significant
Lighting Goals
  • To indicate crossing
  • To indicate approach to crossing
  • To show direction of pathway
  • To maintain eco-sensitive minimum light pollution
  • To indicate pathway risks such as hidden crossings, dips, etc.
  • From user feedback all goals seem to have been well met.
# of Units Installed
  • 56 Wetland Units
  • Bi-directional White for delineation and mono-directional Amber for hazards
Installation Issues
  • 150 mm deep reinforced concrete had to be diamond core drilled for installation with 150 mm diameter bit.

Site Photographic


Note: Light may be positioned to indicate park seat position.

Results

Installation date May 2009
Reliability All Light working perfectly at Jan 2010
Visibility LED 600 meters plus
Surface contact No relevant negative data as yet
Durability No damage or apparent vandalism attacks
Installation All lights secured and no attempts to remove

Summary

The project was without incident and went ahead on schedule with minimal direct council involvement.

Feed-back has been very positive from pathway users who, amongst other observations, mentioned the enjoyable ambience created from the delineation lighting style selected, greater sense of safety and as well as recogniton of the environmental benefits, including the protection of the endangered hosted species within the park, as well of course, as the obvious green-house gas reductions.

It should be acknowledged that this is amongst the world’s first “wetlands” to use this product.

To arrange a personal, on-site presentation contact SolarOne at info@solarone.com.au.