Nothing lasts forever and one subcategory of things that don’t is lighting systems for emergency communication towers – systems that have to work day and night, week after week, year after year. 

In Summerfield, the lighting system on the emergency communication tower at 5501 Centerfield Road has been operational for nearly three decades – and now it needs to be replaced.

On Tuesday, Sept. 28, Guilford County government put out a request for qualifications – an “RFQ” – to find takers for the job.

  Those interested have until Thursday, Oct. 21 to get their qualifications in to the county. 

According to Guilford County Emergency Services Director Jim Albright, the system, which must work reliably all the time, needs to be replaced.

“The Summerfield Tower was built in the mid-1990’s and still has the original emergency lighting system on it,” Albright said this week, adding that that system runs 24/7, 365 days a year.

“We are in need of a replacement, and are securing an engineering firm to assist us in development of an RFP that is compliant with all current FCC and FAA rules and regulations,” the county’s Emergency Services director said.

The lights must be highly visible for pilots at a distance coming from any direction in a variety of weather conditions.

According to the request just sent out by the county, the winner of the contract will “Review existing tower structural inspection report from Allstate Tower, Perform site visits and observations to validate unknown items from the Allstate Tower structural report, Conduct any testing required to provide scope of work for the new lighting system, [and] Perform assessment with visual and/or necessary testing.”

The consultant will also, according to the county’s request, need to determine if the 660-foot emergency communication tower can use a medium-intensity LED lighting system as opposed to the existing strobe light system now on the tower.

 The company getting the business will also provide the county a report with findings and proposed solutions to replace the tower lighting system, provide an estimated schedule to complete the replacement and estimate the cost of the project.

Those wishing to compete for the job can find more information at Guilford County E-Procurement website at https://guilfordcountync.munisselfservice.com.

 

 

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