16:53 Monday 21st October 2013
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire
[C]HRIS BERROW: The world’s first UV powered pathway has been installed on a historic walkway at Christ’s Pieces in Cambridge. The path, which glows in the dark, is the first of its kind in the entire world. Some people are even calling it the starpath, because it looks like the night sky. Is this the future of night lighting? And have you seen it? You can call us now if you’ve seen it. .. Well I’m joined by the man behind it all. It’s Hamish Scott of Pro-teq Surfacing. Hello Hamish.
HAMISH SCOTT: Hello.
CHRIS BERROW: Good afternoon. So can you just explain how this luminous path works, in really simple terms?
HAMISH SCOTT: Yes. Basically it’s a spray-applied system that is a totally new technology, whereby we’re not only repairing existing pathways that have almost passed their sell-by date, but we’re also putting in a luminous particle that will glow of an evening.
CHRIS BERROW: OK. So it’s not just about being luminous, it’s about .. when you say repairing the road, what does that mean?
HAMISH SCOTT: A lot of the pathways these days, whether it be tarmac or concrete, they’ve got cracks in them, or potholes. So they’re needing a little bit of repair or a lot of repair. So initially what we want to do is make a safe pathway. And then if we can then illuminate it at night, then that’s what we’re trying to do.That’s our aim.
CHRIS BERROW: The pictures do look outstanding;. It does look like the night sky. And like I said, some people are calling it the star path, if you like. Does it work on a cloudy day? because Cambridgeshire not always a sunny beautiful .. well always beautiful, but not always sunny.
HAMISH SCOTT: Yes it does. All it needs is the ultra-violet during the day. It stores the energy of the ultra-violet during the day, and then releases it at night time.
CHRIS BERROW: And have you been working on this technology a long time? It doesn’t sound like ..
HAMISH SCOTT: For about three or four years now we’ve been watching it and our own in house trials, and had the opportunity to bring it to the market at Christ’s Pieces.
CHRIS BERROW: And how did you get permission to do it? I imagine you must have asked someone. You didn’t just spray it on. (LAUGHS)
HAMISH SCOTT: Yes we did. We deal with pathways for Cambridge already, and we’ve been speaking to the Council. I know that lighting is an issue for lots of councils. And it was just something that they were happy to have a trial with.
CHRIS BERROW: We’re in the age of everyone saying we’re going to run out of things that generate electricity eventually. We’re going to run out of coal. We’ve got this big nuclear power plant that coming in, it’s been approved today, the French and Chinese co-production if you like. But this doesn’t require any energy at all.
HAMISH SCOTT: No it doesn’t. It only just requires, as I said, the UV light. We’re trying to do our wee little bit for trying to conserve energy, if that’s a better way of putting it.
CHRIS BERROW: And if you haven’t been to Christ’s Pieces, I’m going to go and have a look later on today and try and take a photo. Although apparently it is quite hard to take a photo, isn’t it?
HAMISH SCOTT: Very difficult to take a photo of, because if it’s a fairly light evening in the park, the paths will not be quite as bright. If it is a very dark evening obviously, the pathway will be brighter. It gives you a very different sense, because it’s something .. it’s a light that probably most people have never ever seen before.
CHRIS BERROW: Absolutely. Well thanks for coming on. Hamish Scott, who’s the owner of Pro-Teq Surfacing. I’m going to go and have a look later on. Do you ahve another .. are you going to do another application of this technology.
HAMISH SCOTT: Yes. We’re talking to several councils around the country that would like to trial this in different areas.
CHRIS BERROW: OK. Well we look forward to seeing how else it can be used. Hamish Scott, owner of the Pro-Teq Surfacing Company, absolutely fascinating. I am going to have a look at that later on.
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