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Mid-Hudson Bridge

Poughkeepsie, NewYork, USA

Built in the early part of the 20th century, the Mid-Hudson Bridge has been a focal point for the community of Poughkeepsie, New York, for over 72 years. During that time, the country has seen 13 presidents, switched from horse-drawn wagons to gas-powered automobiles, and witnessed the advent of the digital age. Now the Mid-Hudson Bridge has become an active player in the digital age: In a first for the Mid-Hudson Bridge, and possibly any suspension bridge in the world, the New York State Bridge Authority has illuminated the bridge's suspension cables with intelligent LED illumination. This one-of-a-kind digital lighting technology pioneered by Color Kinetics has allowed the New York State Bridge Authority to put a colorful and unique stamp on this bridge, as well as four other bridges within its jurisdiction. The necklace lighting scheme for the Mid-Hudson Bridge consists of 142 fixtures powered by Color Kinetics' patented Chromacore® digital LED technology. These fixtures are easily controlled via a PC and Color Kinetics® iPlayer® 2 light show storage and playback device -- information is sent from the Bridge Authority's headquarters to the lights over approximately one mile of fiber optic cables. The Bridge Authority has created a number of distinctive light shows using Color Kinetics ColorPlay® light show authoring software, and has even developed ways to trigger the light shows over Internet and telephone connections. The New York State Bridge Authority is delighted with the variable color schemes of the necklace lighting, and perhaps most importantly, so are members of the community, visitors and commuters traveling the bridge.