Antiquities Minister Mamdouh Mamaty stressed that lighting the West Bank of Luxor, the world's greatest archaeological open-air museum, makes the city visitable by tourists all through the year and not in the winter alone.

The minister, while opening the West Bank Lighting Project Saturday evening, said the project will contribute to increasing tourism revenues, enhancing the West Bank security system and extending tourist activity hours (currently restricted to daytime only) into the night.

Night visitation of the West Bank will run till 11:00 p.m. in the summer and 9:00 p.m. in the winter, he said.

The current stage of the project covered Ramesseum Temple and three tombs in the Valley of the Kings; Ramses VI, Ramses VII and Seti I, he said, adding that the next stage will cover the rest of archaeological sites in the West Bank.

The project includes installing a low-voltage power supply system that respects the globally unparalleled historic terrain, maintains the integrity of its unique topography, and offers a secure and reliable setting showcasing a sensational panorama of a professionally lighted West Bank.

The low-voltage power system involves the positioning and rating of a substantial number of camouflaged lighting fixtures/racks, panels, cable routing schemes, hand holes, and the transformers main distribution boards. With a total rating of 469 kW, nine hundred ninety two projectors are to light up the rocky elevations, particularly underscoring temples/tombs entrances for East Bank viewers.

Three hundred up-lighters featuring a total rating of 45 kW shall focus their beams on the rural strip palm trees. Other electrical system design components needed for this massive scheme entail nine transformers mains with a total rating of 1,000 kVA, fifty-eight distribution panels, twenty-three kilometers of cables, and twenty-one kilometers of wiring.

All equipment selected ensure complete compatibility with site integrity in terms of color; texture; future maintenance; durability; equipment protection in case of volatile electric current fluctuations, complete outages, transients, and inrush current; as well as ongoing archaeological exploration and excavation plans.
Source: MENA