Two Rivers Pedestrian Bridge

The Two Rivers Bridge is a pedestrian bridge that marks the western part of the Arkansas River Trail Loop. The bridge doesn't connect two rivers, as the name suggests, but it does cross over to a peninsula (Two Rivers Park) that separates the Arkansas and the Little Maumelle Rivers. It was decide to build the bridge to keep the bicycle trail along the rivers' edge.

Curtis Stout, Inc. won the bid for the original lighting package. After the original bid, Curtis Stout was invited to work with Garver Engineering to come up with a color changing LED solution to create a nighttime show piece. Curtis Stout turned to Gene Gephardt, a theatrical lighting designer on staff, to work with Garver Engineering in choosing the fixtures and controls and laying out the system. The project started with one lighting manufacturer, but was switched after a shootout took place and the winner was LumenPulse. The Show controller chosen was the Pharos because of its broad capabilities. Curtis Stout had submitted it on the Big Dam Bridge as well, so the owner was happy as well as familiar with the software program. The site lighting was also changed to Cree Beta LED light fixtures. The original design had 5 LumenPulse LumenBeam lights with a custom mounting bracket around the top of the piers shooting down, but the Coast Guard weighed in and wouldn't allow the fixtures on the piers. It was relayed that the reflection off of the water could blind the boaters. The cove lights were bright enough to create the reflection off of the water that was desired. The LumenPulse LumenCove lights were chosen for the underskirting and placed out near the edge to take advantage of the 1200 spread to light up the 3' high spans. The LumenPulse LumenFacade fixture was chosen to graze the 15' high trusses.

Because of the size of the parapet walls, conduit size was limited for data cable. We suggested a wireless solution, but the owner wanted to stay with a hard wired system. We reduced the DMX universes to three and mirrored the DMX address for both sides going across. We treated each fixture as a three color unit. This allowed us enough room. After the project was up and running, we added two Opto-Splitters to help boost the DMX signals. In the end we achieved the owner's objective plus we created a nighttime Show Piece at the Western Corridor into Little Rock. Since the bridges' completion, the bridge has won an Engineering Excellence Award in Structural Systems, and a People's Choice Award. It has become one of the busiest pedestrian bridges in America.

Equipment List:

  • 96 LumenPulse - LumenFacade Graze fixture 4 ft.
  • 146 LumenPulse - LumenCove Cove lighting fixture 2ft.
  • 272 LumenPulse - LumenCove Cove lighting fixture 4ft.
  • 16 LumenPulse - CBOX1 Controle Box
  • 2 Pharos - LPC1 Controller
  • 1 Pharos - POE Power over Ethernet Switch
  • 1 Pharos - Eight Button Preset Controller
  • 1 Pharos - Designer Software
  • 2 Elation - DD6A Opto-Splitter

 

Design Team:

  • President: Ron Smith
  • CFO, Project Manager: David Payne
  • Lighting Designer: Gene Gephardt
  • Technical Support: Doug Schreiber, Dena Kimberling, Michael Gross (LumenPulse)
  • Commissioning: Michael Gross (LumenPulse)
  • Programmer: Jon Mitchell
  • Owner: Pulaski County Road and Bridge;
  • Buddy Villines, Sherman Smith, Barbara Richard
  • Engineer: Garver Engineering - Little Rock, Arkansas
  • Electrical Contractor: Koontz Electric - Morrilton, Arkansas
  • General Contractor: Jensen Contractors - Des Moines, Iowa

 

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