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A Belisha beacon atop its striped pole. This example also features a spot lamp to illuminate the crossing at night. A Belisha beacon (/ b ə ˈ l iː ʃ ə /) is a yellow-coloured globe lamp atop a tall black and white striped pole, marking pedestrian crossings of roads in the United Kingdom, [1] Ireland, and other countries historically influenced by Britain, such as Hong Kong, Cyprus, Malta ...
Beacons were later used in Greece as well, while the surviving parts of the beacon system in Anatolia seem to have been reactivated in the 12th century by Emperor Manuel I Komnenos. [6] In Scandinavia many hill forts were part of beacon networks to warn against invading pillagers.
An airway beacon (US) or aerial lighthouse (UK and Europe) was a rotating light assembly mounted atop a tower. These were once used extensively in the United States for visual navigation by airplane pilots along a specified airway corridor. In Europe, they were used to guide aircraft with lighted beacons at night. [1] [2]
The lamp (made in approx. 1914) burned vaporized kerosene (paraffin); the vaporizer was heated by a denatured alcohol (methylated spirit) burner to light. When lit, some of the vaporised fuel was diverted to a Bunsen burner to keep the vaporizer warm and the fuel in vapor form. The fuel was forced up to the lamp by air; the keepers had to pump ...
The Belisha beacon is an upright crossing marking, still required by zebra and parallel crossings in the UK, named after the Minister of Transport in 1934, Leslie Hore-Belisha. [9] However, with an increase of car traffic, the effectiveness of the beacons was waning; both pedestrians and drivers were ignoring the crossing.
The lighted Airway Beacons were a substantial navigation aid in an era prior to the development of radio navigation. However, their effectiveness was limited by visibility and weather conditions. 24 inches (610 mm) diameter rotating beacons were mounted on 53-foot (16 m) high towers, and spaced ten miles apart.
The main line of beacons stretched over some 720 km (450 mi). In the open spaces of central Asia Minor, the stations were placed over 97 km (60 mi) apart, while in Bithynia, with its more broken terrain, the intervals were reduced to ca. 56 km (35 mi).
These were generally made of wood, as it was readily available. Due to the fire hazard, masonry towers were increasingly built - the oldest standing masonry tower was Sandy Hook Lighthouse, built in 1764 in New Jersey. Screw-pile lighthouses were used in Chesapeake Bay and along the Carolina coast in the United States. The first screw pile ...