KEWAUNEE COUNTY

Coast Guard proposes changing lighthouse lenses

USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

Steam rises over Lake Michigan after the warmer water meets the frigid cold temperatures Sunday in Kewaunee. The lighthouses in Kewaunee and Algoma would have their lenses replaced with more energy-efficient ones under a proposal from the Coast Guard Great Lakes.

The Algoma and Kewaunee lighthouses would have their lenses replaced, according to a proposal by the U.S. Coast Guard Great Lakes.

The Frensel classical lenses would be removed from the the Algoma Pierhead and the Kewaunee Pierhead lighthouses.

They would be replaced with modern light-emitting-diode (LED) lanterns, which are more dependable and energy efficient.

The Frensel lenses would be removed and preserved. Due to the harsh environmental conditions including temperature fluctuations and ultraviolet rays, the lenses slowly deteriorate, said the Coast Guard Great Lakes, based in Cleveland, Ohio. Once removed, the lenses may be loaned to a local museum where they would be maintained in a controlled environment and placed on display.

The Fresnel lens is named after the 18th-century French physicist Augustine Fresnel, who devised the technique of using glass prisms to boost and direct light from a lighthouse out over the water.

Comments about the lens removal can be addressed to Wayne Kean, Coast Guard Civil Engineering Unit, Cleveland, Ohio, 216-902-6258 or Wayne.E.Kean@uscg.mil until Jan. 31.

A Fresnel lens fan reads the details of the Plum Island light that was removed and restored by Kurt Fosburg for the U.S. Coast Guard. The lens was constructed in 1889 and served until 2015, when it was replaced with an LED light on the island. The lens is on display at the Door County Maritime Museum's northern museum site in Gills Rock. The lighthouses in Algoma and Kewaunee would also have their Fresnel lenses replaced, according to a proposal from the Boast Guard.