It's a shame I haven't seen this happen more locally, especially with columns that have interesting lanterns fitted!

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I know, back then I never realised people collected lanterns and it never even occurred to me you could do that. If I knew then what I know now I'd have had that Beta 4 lighting my back garden  

Yeah both lanterns are gone, the type 7 has lost it's swan neck probaly when it was hit.

This has got to be the most dangerous falling concrete installation I've ever seen:

http://www.google.co.uk/maps?q=stratfor ... 8,,0,-8.16

 Now, that image dates back to August 2008. Have you been past recently to know if the situation is the same? I'd be very surprised it if it was; either the column would have fallen down, or was finally removed.

No, I haven't past there since that year, but will keep a look out next time I go that way!

Looks like it was reversed into by a lorry.

I've mentioned it before on here, but I remember in Southampton a few years ago some foreign cowboy builders were digging out ground for the foundations of a house extension adjacent to a footway. In the process they dug out the foundations for a 5m concrete column. The column was leaning over the road at an angle of nearly 45 degrees and supported solely by the incoming supply cable. When I was about to walk past the column one of the builders pushed the column a bit as if to say "it's not moving anywhere, it's safe". As I say, cowboy, pushing a concrete column with your hand is not the proper way of testing a column.

I have been made aware of an article in the Huddersfield Examiner from just over a week ago, whereby strong winds briught down a concrete column
http://www.examiner.co.uk/news/local-we ... -30056367/
It is believed that the column made have been a Stanton 1800 'pencil' series, which had a notorious weakpoint just above the door area - many of which got a sleeve around the base section which was bolted on. I know of a column in Hull that has such a sleeve.

Anyhow, knowing this has happened with strong winds gives York a good case for having chopped down a few hundred 10m and 5m columns that failed testing before the strong winds came.

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The column is a Stanton and Staveley CS1805.

The design flaw with these columns is not "the notorious weak point just above the door area" per se, but cracking in the base section caused by the backboard bolts corroding and causing splitting of the concrete in the base, therefore weakening the entire column.

Although it is difficult to tell from the angle of the felled column, the sleeve may have increased the height of the column and the bracket and larger lantern, compared to the original mercury or small SOX lantern, may have increased the windage on the column.

Given the greatest load is actually above the base of the door, not the top, I suspect it is indeed the backboard bolt issue which has caused this failure - the cracks don't always go all the way through to the outside at the rear.

Thankfully, all this type of column survived over 60mph gusts in Salisbury without incident. It may be later versions of this column didn't suffer this problem.

In West Sussex  "base sleeves"  are fitted to the columns.