You know, the blinking arrows or the “bridge work ahead” signs.
Are they powered by batteries, generators or both? (solar?)
Do the road workers periodically recharge/refill them?
How long od they work (before recharge/refill)?
I did some light searching and didnt find anything.
Brian
I remember those signs. They are powered by a 6 volt DC battery(which is why you sometimes see them off(the battery died!)) which is located in a lil’ yellow box underneath the light itself.
Now I assume, that when they replace them in the storage yard, they replace/recharge the batteries at this time.
Info on the transit systems can be found here :
American Public Transportation Association (formerly American Public Transit Association), 1666 K Street, N.W., Suite 1100, Washington, DC 20006, http://www.apta.com/, telephone (202) 496-4800.
That would be my best guess for finding out more about that.
I think bathos is talking about the little yellow flashers that they put ontop of construction barriers. The OP soulds like the bigger signs and arrows.
Some are generators/batteries but much more now are solar/batteries. I don’t know about how much maintance they need but the generators seemed to cycle on and off to keep the batts charged.
More and more signs and even some parking lot lights are being powered by solar cells because the cost for the cells is dropping. They also have batteries to use at night. It also saves the cost of having to run power lines out to the signs.
Here in New South Wales, the little yellow flashing lights at road construction sites sit on top of a battery pack about the size of a thick paperback book. No solar.
Large, permanent electronic signs which are miles from anywhere have a big solar panel on them, as well as a radio receiver so they can be programmed remotely. The ROAD BLOCKED BY SNOW/FOG/ICE AT … signs in the mountains are examples of this.
At construction sites where half the road is closed, and opposing traffic takes turns to use one side, it is increasingly common to see small (proper-looking red, amber, green) traffic lights on top of a little wheeled generator towed out there by the construction crew. I guess the “lolipop man” with his STOP/GO handheld sign will soon be a thing of the past.