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South Korea - A bridge linking land and tradition

Renowned in the whole country as an innovative and technologically advanced infrastructure, the Yeonggwang Bridge connects Baeksu-Eup and Hongnong-Eup to Yeonggwang-gun in the Jeollanam-Do region in South Korea. Started in 2008, the construction of this cable-stayed bridge was completed in 2016 after 8 years of hard work. The new connection offers now a two-lane 16.9m wide road for a total length of 2.2 km of marine and onshore bridge. With a distance of 320m between its two main towers, the marine bridge reaches a length of 590m. Stretching from the top of the two pagoda-shaped pylons, a net of parallel cables runs directly from both sides of the towers to the deck forming a fanlike pattern, a typical feature of cable-stayed bridges.

Yeonggwang bridge was architecturally built in harmony with the adjacent scenery, respecting the natural and sacred allure of the surroundings with its shape and size. In fact, the height of its pylons reflects the history and culture of Baekje Buddhisms, the main attraction in this area for tourists and worshippers. Its maximum height of 108m symbolizes the 108 beads of the Mala’s rosary, a traditional tool to keep count of the repetitions of a mantra, of prostrations or of a Buddah’s name. Considered a sacred number by the Dharmic religions, 108 is the number of the human passions or of the afflictions of mankind, whereas the number 1 supposedly stands for the highest truth, 0 for emptiness and humility in spiritual practice and 8 means infinity and timelessness.

Since its opening in March 2016, the passage time of National Highway No. 77 coastal road has been drastically shortened, and the new bridge has already become a landmark of Yeonggwang County along with Baekseok coast road, Gamami beach, and Baekje Buddhism birthplace, one of the most famous tourist destinations in the country. The tradition reports that the Indian Monk Mirananta first set foot on Korean territory in A.D. 384 getting to Beopseongpo of Yeonggwang to spread Buddhism. There he built the Bulgapsa Temple, which hence became the first monument of Buddhism in the Baekje Kingdom. Consequently, this area, considered the originating place of Buddhism in Korea, was gradually developed as a tourist destination.

THE LIGHTING SCHEME

Completed in March 2018, the landscape lighting of Yeonggwang bridge is concentrated on the central part of the cable-stayed bridge, mainly illuminating its two majestic pylons and their cables. In order to enhance the whole length of towers and cables, long-throw lighting fixtures were required to reach a satisfying luminance level up to the top of the high structure. Therefore, 28 units of Powershine MK2 D RGBW with spot optics were fixed in couples on sturdy metal supports located at the base of the towers in order to light them up till the top with an even light output. 20 units of the single bank version, Powershine MK2 S RGBW, also with spot optics, were installed along the cable fixing points on the borders of the bridge to enlighten the metal ropes in their full length. To complete the lighting scheme, 8 units of Powershine MK2 S in RGBW colour configuration with medium optics and 8 units with wide optics were installed at the lower base of the two pylons to light up their basement at 360°.

All the fixtures have been equipped with dedicated anti-glare shields in order to grant the maximum drivers’ comfort and safety. Moreover, the whole DMX system is managed with the help of a number of two-channel DMX amplifiers, which split and boost the incoming DMX signal into 2 separate output channels in order to better reach all the fixtures installed on the bridge.

The chosen colour configuration uses white, yellow, and green in spring, “a fairy tale of natural sunshine” alternated with “a cool wave in blue and green” in summer, a “happiness of magenta and purple" in winter, and "whispers of love during the holiday season", just to use the words of the Korean newspapers describing the features of the landscape lighting on the occasion of its inauguration ceremony. Best visible from the main entrance of Baekje Buddhism birthplace site, the LED lighting system will be automatically turned on every day 5 minutes after sunset. The beautiful dynamic colour changing effect, which enliven the whole structure at night, delivers a new attractiveness to the bridge, already become a landmark in this region, linking land and tradition.

POWERSHINE MK2 D uses a total of 192 powerful RGBW LEDs and is available with a vast choice of optics for the maximum lighting design flexibility. Owing to its double cluster configuration, which offers full independent control of each LED bank, this wall washer allows absolute freedom to create matching or divergent effects on formerly prohibitive large-scale facades and remote spots. The combination of RGBW LEDs provides an unprecedented astonishing white light output quality, as well as a wider variety of intermediate colour hues for an even broader range of application purposes. POWERSHINE MK2 D Polar Edition features an integrated de-icing system with electrically heated glass, which assures a comfortable functioning even in the utmost severe cold weather conditions.

Products installed:

28x AL3690A Powershine MK2 D RGBW

56x AL3710 Spot optics for Powershine MK2 D

20x AL3700A Powershine MK2 S Spot

8x AL3702A Powershine MK2 S Medium

8x AL3703A Powershine MK2 S Wide

92x AL2199 Anti-glare shield for Powershine

6x GR0066A IP65 2ch DMX signal amplifier