Obstruction Lighting

Any structure that penetrates the obstacle limitation surfaces around an aerodrome, or that simply sits tall enough to be a hazard to low flying aircraft, needs obstruction lighting. The requirement is not a matter of proximity to an airport alone: transmission towers, cranes on construction sites, tall buildings, industrial stacks and offshore platforms all fall under it depending on height and location, and the obligation typically sits with the structure's owner or operator rather than with the nearest aerodrome.

Intensity classes and when each applies

ICAO Annex 14 sets out low, medium and high intensity obstruction lights, and the correct class depends on the structure's height and its distance from an aerodrome's approach and departure paths rather than on preference. Low intensity units mark shorter structures and lower risk locations. Medium intensity units cover the mid range height band and are common on communication towers and industrial structures outside the immediate vicinity of an aerodrome. High intensity units, typically flashing white by day and red by night, mark the tallest structures and those closest to flight paths, where visibility during daylight matters as much as at night. Selecting the wrong class is not a minor specification error, since it changes what a pilot can actually see the structure to be.

Power supply and monitoring

Many obstruction light locations, transmission towers and remote industrial structures in particular, have no reliable grid connection nearby, which is why solar powered obstruction lights are common in this market: self-contained units with battery backup that keep operating through cloudy periods and require no trenching to the structure. Monitoring is the other half of the reliability question. A failed obstruction light on a tall structure is a hazard that can go unnoticed for weeks without remote monitoring, so systems that report lamp status, battery condition and fault alarms back to a central point have become standard on structures where a site visit is expensive or difficult to arrange.

Aircraft warning spheres

Where overhead transmission lines or cables cross an approach path or a valley used by low flying aircraft, the wire itself is the hazard rather than a tower, and aircraft warning spheres mounted directly on the conductor make the line visible against the sky in a way that a light at either end cannot achieve.

Delivery

Northlane Solutions specifies obstruction lighting to the height and location of each structure, supplies units matched to ICAO Annex 14 intensity requirements, and installs monitoring so lamp and battery status is visible without a site visit, then maintains the installed base on a scheduled basis.