Memorial Bridge Panel Makes Case for Illumination

Lighting consultant John Powell showed more than 40 Portsmouth area residents how the new Memorial Bridge may look at night if it is illuminated and the reaction was uniformly positive.

Powell, who has volunteered his services to help the Memorial Bridge Illumination Subcommittee to come up with a possible design, said the new span would utilize several NAV LED lights on the lift span towers, the pilings, and the approaches that would aid Marine navigation as well as illuminate the bridge without adversely impacting the night sky.

Powell made his presentation on Thursday night in the Levenson Room at the Portsmouth Public Library more than a week after to pay for the lighting as well as five years of operation.

Ben Porter of Kittery, Maine, the co-chairman of the subcommittee, said their plan calls for the World War I memorial plaque to be illuminated with a white light.

"When you convert from sodium vapor lights of the old bridge to the LED lighting for the new bridge, there is a savings of $20,000 for the taxpayers," he said.

Porter also said there will be dimming during the late night and pier lighting could reflect tides and currents.

Porter also said the campaign has raised $20,000 in pledges thus far. He said contributors will have their names on a special plaque in Portsmouth and Kittery, Maine to recognize them and the same is true for businesses and organizations.

Porter said they want to get the funds raised very rapidly so the lighting can be installed before the crews finish the bridge in July. Otherwise, the cost to install them would be higher.

Subcommittee co-chairman Peter Sommsich of Portsmouth appealed to potential contributors in the audience by saying their plan will add significant value to what will already be a great bridge for the city as well as Kittery, Maine residents and visitors. “It means a lot to a lot of people,” he said.

“This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. You don’t build a bridge every year," Sommsich added.