Name: 一盞路燈就夠了，為什麼還要用很多盞？ (Why use many streetlights when one will do?)
Uploaded: 2025-05-23T07:42:12.000Z
Duration: 5 min 38 s

情態副詞

I did ask, but not only does climbing this need proper training and safety equipment, it's also a protected historic site.

我問過了，攀爬這裡不僅需要適當的培訓和安全設備，而且還是一個受保護的歷史遺蹟。

The folks in charge are, understandably, a bit cautious.

負責人有些謹慎，這是可以理解的。

But while I can't go up there, the camera and you can.

雖然我不能上去，但攝影機和你可以。

This is a moonlight tower here in Austin, Texas, and it's one of the last surviving municipal lighting towers anywhere.

這是德克薩斯州奧斯汀的一座月光塔，也是現存最後的市政照明塔之一。

Because if you're lighting up a city to keep people safe at night, why have thousands of small lamps down every street when you could have just a few, very bright and very high?

因為如果你要照亮一座城市，保證人們夜間的安全，為什麼要在每條街道上安裝成千上萬盞小燈，而只需要安裝幾盞非常明亮、非常高的燈呢？

Each tower was intended to provide light equal to that of natural moonlight in an area 1,500 feet from the base of the tower.

每座塔的目的是在距離塔基 1 500 英尺的區域內提供與自然月光相同的光照。

And that is light by which somebody could read the face of their watch.

通過這束光，人們可以看清手錶的表面。

These lighting systems were all throughout the Midwest and all throughout the West.

這些照明系統遍佈整個中西部和整個西部。

When these towers were installed in 1894, they used carbon arc lamps, the first practical electric lights.

這些大廈於 1894 年安裝，當時使用的是碳弧燈，也就是最早的實用電燈。

Those lamps were literally controlled electrical arcing, a constant spark shooting through the air between two carbon electrodes.

這些燈實際上是受控電弧，在兩個碳電極之間不斷產生火花射穿空氣。

These days, if you've seen that kind of harsh white light at this scale, it's usually because there's a fault with something big and electrical, and there's a short in the system.

如今，如果你看到這種規模的刺眼白光，通常是因為某個大型電氣設備出了故障，系統出現短路。

This was the same effect, just deliberate.

這是同樣的效果，只是故意為之。

The catch is that the electrodes on carbon arc lamps are steadily vaporised, wearing down as they're worn away by the spark.

但問題是，碳弧燈的電極會不斷蒸發，在火花的作用下不斷磨損。

So they burn out quickly, and the city had to pay someone to climb every tower every day to replace the lamps.

是以，它們很快就會燒壞，城市不得不每天花錢僱人爬上每座塔去更換燈具。

The city of Austin Electric Utility, and as we know it today, Austin Energy, started with the moonlight towers.

奧斯汀市電力公司，也就是我們今天所知的奧斯汀能源公司，就是從月光塔開始的。

Every night, a utility employee would go up through this elevator pulley system through the middle of the tower and go light these carbon arc lamps.

每天晚上，一名公用事業部門的員工都會通過電梯滑輪系統爬上塔頂，點亮這些碳弧燈。

This pulley system, there's this little thing for the employee to stand in, and then you have workers on the ground who are hoisting him up, going up potentially 165 feet in the air.

這個滑輪系統有一個小東西，讓員工站在裡面，然後地面上的工人把他吊起來，有可能吊到 165 英尺的高空。

I don't know when hard hats came into play, but when you look at older pictures, right, our safety equipment is not as it is today.

我不知道硬禮帽是什麼時候出現的，但當你看老照片時，就會發現我們的安全設備並不像今天這樣。

So then in the 1920s, they switched to incandescent bulbs, and in 1936, it was the mercury vapor lamps, and today we're using LED bulbs, and it's a little bit easier to get up there and exchange the parts.

是以，在 20 世紀 20 年代，他們改用了白熾燈泡，1936 年又改用了汞蒸氣燈，而今天我們使用的是 LED 燈泡，這樣上去更換零件就更容易了。

So we're using cranes and bucket trucks to get up to make those changes.

是以，我們使用起重機和斗車來進行這些改動。

If ever there was a subject designed for vertical video, it's this one.

如果說有什麼主題是專為垂直視頻設計的，那就是這個主題了。

Most cities took their towers down as electric street lighting became possible.

隨著電力街道照明的普及，大多數城市都拆除了高塔。

For some unknown reason, Austin never got round to it.

不知出於什麼原因，奧斯汀一直沒有去做。

There's only about a dozen towers still standing.

現在只有十幾座塔還屹立不倒。

Not all of those are in the same locations they used to be.

並不是所有這些地方都和以前一樣。

And in 1993, the city took them all apart, refurbished them, and put them back up again.

1993 年，市政府將它們全部拆卸、翻新，並重新豎立起來。

As for what they look like when they're switched on, well, for that, we'll need to wait until after sunset.

至於它們打開後是什麼樣子，那就要等到日落後了。

Austin is the only city in the United States that still has functioning moon towers.

奧斯汀是美國唯一一座仍在使用月球塔的城市。

Before the moonlight towers were put up around town, it was dark.

在城鎮周圍架起月光塔之前，一片漆黑。

是以，它真的改變了人們的生活。

I think it allowed them to keep businesses open after dark, which would increase commerce.

我認為這可以讓他們在天黑後繼續營業，從而增加商業活動。

People could enjoy themselves with friends and family, and also get home safely.

人們可以與朋友和家人盡情歡樂，也可以安全回家。

Moonlight towers were the only game in town for light after dark.

入夜後，月光塔是城裡唯一的照明設備。

You know, in parallel with the moon itself, of course.

And these towers clearly work because, well, look at me, I've got a shadow.

而這些塔顯然是有效的，因為，看看我，我有一個影子。

Although, admittedly, I am standing right next to it.

雖然我承認，我就站在它旁邊。

The name Moonlight Towers isn't just poetic. 31 of these towers were spread around what was then a much smaller and lower city, before skyscrapers came along.

月光塔這個名字並不只是詩意。在摩天大樓出現之前，31 座這樣的大廈分佈在當時規模更小、位置更低的城市中。

That meant that, except for some dark corners, most of the town would be lit up as if there was a full or maybe a half moon.

這意味著，除了一些陰暗的角落，小鎮的大部分地方都會被照亮，就像滿月或半月一樣。

Not that bright, but enough that you could see your way around.

雖然不是很亮，但足以讓你看清周圍的路。

Although, turns out there's not much evidence for that name being used until the mid-20th century, when historical preservation became fashionable, and these towers became an icon of Austin.

但事實證明，直到 20 世紀中葉，歷史保護成為一種時尚，這些大廈成為奧斯汀的標誌性建築時，使用這個名字的證據並不多。

They were not called Moonlight Towers from the beginning.

The Austin newspapers just called these the Towers.

奧斯汀的報紙稱這些為 "大廈"。

First reference that I found in a newspaper to these being called Moonlight Towers was 1938.

我在報紙上首次發現這些被稱為月光塔的建築是在 1938 年。

In the early 1960s, the masthead of the Austin newspaper had the phrase, as Austin as.

20 世紀 60 年代初，奧斯汀報紙的報頭有這樣一句話："奧斯汀一樣。

The phrase changed each day, where the newspaper was comparing itself to other icons in the city of Austin.

這句話每天都在變化，報紙將自己與奧斯汀市的其他標誌進行比較。

And in July 1962, the masthead said, as Austin as Moonlight Towers.

1962 年 7 月，《奧斯汀月光塔》的報頭寫道："《奧斯汀月光塔》。

And every holiday season, one of those Moonlight Towers in Zilker Park gets used to put up hundreds and hundreds of bulbs of lights that look like a holiday tree.

每到節假日，齊爾克公園（Zilker Park）的一座月光塔就會被用來掛上成百上千個燈泡，看上去就像一棵節日樹。

And you go, and you spin around, and you look up, and you get dizzy, and you feel like Austin is just the best place to be.

你走著，轉著，抬頭，頭暈目眩，感覺奧斯汀就是最好的地方。

There are modern versions of these towers for places like giant parking lots.

在巨型停車場等地方也有現代版的這種大廈。

Sometimes it is just better to stick a big light on a pole.

有時，在電線杆上安裝一盞大燈會更好。

In most cases, though, modern lighting is a much better choice, because every street got wired up to the grid anyway.

不過，在大多數情況下，現代照明是一個更好的選擇，因為無論如何，每條街道都已接入電網。

Although that does mean in the 21st century, it's difficult to imagine what a city lit just by Moonlight Towers would feel like.

雖然這確實意味著在 21 世紀，很難想象一個只有月光塔照明的城市會是什麼感覺。

These days, there's too much other light around, from every house, every building.

如今，周圍有太多其他光線，來自每家每戶、每棟建築。

On a night with low cloud, the skyglow from light pollution can be brighter than the old towers would be.

在雲層較低的夜晚，光汙染造成的天光可能比老塔更亮。

At least, brighter than they would be at a distance.

Kept running because, well, because the people of Austin like them.

一直在運行，因為，因為奧斯汀人喜歡它們。