More than 80 Avlite Systems’ AV23 solar obstruction lights are being installed on the towers and stations of the Metrocable in the San Martin neighbourhood of Caracas, Venezuela. The Metrocable is a mass transportation system and is one of the facilities built by the Venezuelan Government to improve the living conditions of the people.

Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, is in a valley surrounded by hills and mountains. The hills are home to many of the poorer residents and connection to the rest of the city was inadequate. Originally a road network was proposed but this would have meant the demolition of many homes, displacing up to a third of inhabitants. A transport solution was needed which was both cost effective and environmentally sound and the Metrocable, an urban cable car system, has proved to be the perfect answer for the commute from the hilltop suburbs into CBD located in the valley.

The Metrocable links more than 40,000 people to the Metro System in Caracas. The hilltop stations are set into densely built neighbourhoods and have been elevated so as to avoid the destruction of homes. Six AV23 solar obstruction lights will be installed on the rooftops of the stations to clearly identify these structures. Avlite Systems’ partner, Enersolar Ingenieria, have already installed twelve AV23’s onto the towers linking the cable cars and have been awarded a contract to install a further 72 lights on the remaining towers.

The AV23 lights installed are low intensity solar-powered obstruction lights designed to offer users years of maintenance-free operation. During the daylight hours the solar module will charge the battery and the lantern will automatically begin operation at dusk when the ambient light threshold drops sufficiently, clearly marking the structure.

The solar-powered AV23 incorporates LED optics which have been independently tested to be in accordance with the requirements of the photometric and colourmetric specifications for a Low Intensity Type A Obstacle Light listed in Table 6-3 of ICAO Annex 14 Volume 1, ‘Aerodrome Design and Operations’, Fourth Edition July 2004.

Avlite would like to thank Enersolar Ingenieria for suppying the photos accompanying this article.

For further details, contact Avlite Systems: emailinfo@avlite.com or phone +61 (0)3 5977 6128.