Authorized by an Act from the Michigan State Legislature, the Public Lighting Authority of Detroit (PLA) programmed the upgrade and improvement of its streetlighting system. As part of this program, Wade Trim provided field work inventories and streetlight engineering and design services for converting lights throughout the City. The project team transitioned Detroit Public Lighting Department underground feeds to a major utility’s underground feeds for Downtown Detroit, Telegraph Road, and Woodward Avenue, as well as the neighborhoods of Sherwood Forest, Green Acres, St. Martins Park, Victoria Park, Boston-Edison, and Indian Village. An asset inventory and condition assessment of the existing facilities were completed for each project location. Field work included evaluating the structural integrity of over 3,500 light poles and using GIS for streetlight evaluation and asset inventories. Based on results, assets were identified that could be re-used, repaired, or replaced based on their condition or remaining life expectancy. The project also included specifying and locating new street lighting units, cable routing and sizing, and conduit sizing where new conduit was required.

All design data and documents for the PLA Streetlight Modernization Program were prepared using ESRI ArcMap software. An ESRI Geodatabase was created to store all streetlighting system layers including luminaires, poles, conduit, handholes, and manholes. The project team also provided construction engineering services for the Downtown Detroit project.