Even before the new Maasdelta tunnel is opened to traffic, the first adjustment is already a fact. The lighting that had already been installed in the new toll tunnel was not entirely satisfactory and that is why Rijkswaterstaat is now installing lamps with a warmer light color. That looks a lot nicer, but that is of course not the reason for doing what they say is a ‘hellish job’.
Rijkswaterstaat calls the amber-colored lighting the ‘Batlamp’. This is not to be confused with the searchlight used to summon a wealthy orphan with an aversion to crime on a cloudy evening. You won’t encounter the Batmobile in the tunnel, but apparently bats feel very much at home in the new toll tunnel.
Bats move ahead of traffic
Last week, the so-called end walls were removed from the Maasdelta tunnel, meaning that the tunnel is now completely open from north to south. Traffic is not yet welcome, but bats are apparently already making good use of the new tunnel. The current lamps are not that nice for the bats and that is why the warmer Bat lamp is used.
A Batlight somewhere else in the Netherlands | Photo: © Rijkswaterstaat
“The light color takes into account the so-called Human-Bat Response Ratio: a light color that is insensitive to bat eyes, but where people can still clearly perceive the traffic situation,” Rijkswaterstaat writes. Yesterday (indeed on April 1, but we don’t believe that’s a joke) work started on changing the lights in the tunnel.
Tags: toll tunnel Netherlands lighting
