ABSTRACT
Plan carefully for the type of lighting based on the risk and area where it will be placed. Anchor the poles well so they cannot be throttled causing breakage to the luminaries. The housing and the wire shield need tamperproof screws. In 1993, Miami street vagrants attacked the streetlights on a major interstate highway near the Miami International Airport (Figure 23.3 and Figure 23.4). The thieves were taking the copper wiring and selling it to the recycling centers. Meanwhile, the highways were dark and tourists were getting lost and sometimes robbed (or worse) when they drove off the dark highways seeking directions in the bad parts of town. The wire covers did not have tamperproof screws and could be removed with a dime. After several tourist robberies and deaths, the county and Department of Transportation wired the lights in series, with a wire along the top of the light poles. The situation could have been avoided by using tamperproof security screws on the wiring shields. So the threat of vandalism is real, and serious consequences can result. What is the expectation for providing lighting in our built environment?
