High mast light: the aiming plan is the product
A high mast light is a system of columns, positions and aim, not a luminaire on a pole. The column settles the spill question, the frame settles the maintenance question, and the aiming plan settles whether the pitch works.
Specification
What the sheet states for this build, and what is confirmed per project.
| Topic | What the sheet states |
|---|---|
| Light level | Set by the project requirement, confirmed on the lighting calculation |
| Uniformity | Agreed with the client, checked in the calculation at the maintenance factor |
| Optics | Per aiming point, narrow at the far side and wider at the near |
| Colour rendering | Raised where the venue is broadcast |
| Housing | Die cast body, corrosion class per site |
| Ingress protection | Confirmed per model on the current data sheet |
| Fixings | Cross arm or aiming frame, matched to the column flange |
| Wind load | Declared for the assembly, including the frame |
| Control | Contactor groups, dimming per scene |
| Data sheet | Current revision, naming the delivered model |
The wind load on a high mast assembly is a structural input for the column designer. Asking for it early sometimes changes the column, which is much cheaper than changing it after the concrete.
Why the column comes first
A high mast exists to put the light source above the sight line and inside the site boundary. Both are civil constraints. Raise the column and the aiming angle flattens, spill at the boundary drops and the uniformity over the pitch improves; the cost is the column and the lift you will need to maintain it.
That is why a high mast scheme is designed backwards from the boundary. The permitted spill and the column height are one decision, and a lighting design that arrives after the columns are poured can only work within it.
- The boundary rule in the local jurisdiction, before the column height is fixed.
- The column positions the site can actually give, including the cable route.
- The maintenance access, agreed with whoever will own the installation.
Aiming is not a one off
Luminaires on a high mast are aimed as a set. Each unit covers a patch of the surface, and the overlaps are where uniformity comes from. An aiming plan assigns a target point to each luminaire and to each optic, and it is what a commissioning visit works to.
Pitch resurfacing, a new sponsor board, a change of sport: each of these moves the targets. A frame that can be re-aimed from a lift, with the aiming chart available, is the difference between a scheme that tracks the venue and one that is rebuilt.
- An aiming chart per column, in the handover pack.
- Access to each luminaire without dismantling the frame.
- A spare unit in the most used optic, kept on site.
Ports, rail and industrial yards
The same mount lights a container yard or a rail terminal, where the requirement is different: a large area at a working level, with the glare aimed away from the crane operators and the traffic. Uniformity matters less than the absence of dark pockets between stacks.
In those yards the fixture is usually chosen for its beam control and its corrosion class rather than its colour rendering. Salt, dust and vibration are the failure modes, and the fixing detail matters more than the optic.
- The corrosion class the site requires for the housing and the fixings.
- Where the cranes and vehicles look, so the glare can be aimed away.
- Whether the columns already exist, and their flange and load rating.
Before the order
- Column design: the luminaire assembly is a wind load on the mast. Ask for the declared load and give it to the column engineer.
- Access plan: a 30 m mast needs a lift or a lowering device. Decide which before the order, because it changes the frame.
- Aiming chart: part of the handover, not a favour after commissioning.
- Build
- High mast light
- Line
- Stadium lights
- Ask for
- Specification sheet, photometric file, aiming drawing
Send the space, get the sheet.
Build, specification sheet and the option list for each line item, in one reply.