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 Post subject: Re: Motorway Lighting
PostPosted: Thu Jun 01, 2017 6:16 pm 
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P850s have been used on the M20 free flow link to the anticlockwise M25. Also, whilst not M25, the A282 Dartford Crossing and tunnel approaches is LED now.


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 Post subject: Re: Motorway Lighting
PostPosted: Tue Jun 06, 2017 6:17 pm 
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One of the Lumas on the M275 in Portsmouth has suffered an unusual failure - of the structural type. The lantern spigot and the back edge of the base/body casting are still attached to the column, but the rest of the base including all of the optic and the top cover are missing. There is no evidence of any accident damage to the column.


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 Post subject: Re: Motorway Lighting
PostPosted: Mon Jun 26, 2017 10:59 pm 
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Re: Smart motorway upgrade works on M60.

Whilst travelling down the M60 towards the Trafford Centre, I couldn't help but notice the continuing works to upgrade this stretch of motorway into the "smart" variety. What is now apparent is that the central res' mounted MA60s from J8 to J9 and possibly beyond have now been removed. These had been on their last legs for a while, with many of the lamps out. Lanterns had been stripped off the remaining columns a week or so ago, with final removal soon after. I'm unable to confirm if the remaining SOX around the Swinton / Eccles interchange have also been removed.

Interestingly, there is no replacement lighting at the moment, although I suspect if and when it does arrive, it is more than likely to be kerb side, post top LEDs as used up towards Cheadle and Gatley.

Motorway lighting as traditionally found on the central res' now seems to be out of fashion. The only stretches with anything like a concentration of twin arm SOX hereabouts, is the short approach to J1 Stockport Pyramid and the section from J25 to J24 Bredbury to Denton. Both installations are still in active use with only a couple of outages on each.

Another SOX survivor which of late seems to have more or less bowed out completely, is the M67 stretch from Denton to Hyde. I think I counted only 5 or 6 MA60s out of approx 238 still working!


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 Post subject: Re: Motorway Lighting
PostPosted: Fri Jul 14, 2017 1:36 pm 
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The A1(M) mainline in Herts has gained its first casual replacement column with two Iridiums mounted on it. So Connect Plus no longer have any 180W SRS201s to keep this area unspoilt, unfortunately, or they are saving them for the A13. Shame they can't scoop up the many NOS lanterns appearing on eBay atm. Presumably in the near future the whole section will be converted to Sapphires, linking up with the tunnel approaches that already use these lanterns.

Several life-expired ex-MA60 columns have also disappeared from the M25E>M1N flyover, and even more around J21a have had more Iridium casual reps. The catenary lighting south of here lives on, however.


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 Post subject: Re: Motorway Lighting
PostPosted: Wed Aug 02, 2017 8:21 pm 
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It appears that I am the only one who remembers a long lost installation of MRL6/GEC Z8600 lights on the M6 Preston Bypass in the 90s. I have searched everywhere but I can't find any information about this anywhere. No one else remembers them. I use to collect newspaper cuttings of the M6 Preston Bypass with those lights during the widening era in 1995 and 1996 but sadly they have all been lost in a clear out.

I remember when this stretch was being widened to 4 lanes, a whole parade of MRL6 lights sprung up in the M6 central reservation from just south of the B5269 Whittingham Lane underbridge near Broughton all the way down to the Rob Lane underbridge near Newton-Le-Willows from summer 1993 into summer 1994 along with Thorn Rocades on the sidelines at Preston in between M6 junction 30 and junction 32 in the same period. Also in summer 1993 MRL6 lights were also setup in the central reservation of the M55 at Broughton in between the Lightfoot Green Lane footbridge and M6 junction 32. Most of those central reservation MRL6 lights on the M6 Preston Bypass went down in 1996 and 1997. What a sad waste. Preston Bypass was at its best for me with those MRL6 lights. My dad use to drive us down the Preston Bypass in 1993 through 1994 because as a child I enjoyed seeing it all lit up at night during the widening work. I also enjoyed seeing all the roadworks and scaffolding.

Now there is no trace of were those MRL6s once stood. Even the "sockets" for the columns have at some point been tarmacked or grassed over with a new central reservation. The M6 central MRL6s at Broughton were taken down in 2008 and 2014. Surprisingly they left the sideline Thorn Rocades on the M6 and a parade of central MRL6s on the M55 at Broughton as well as a few remaining parades of central MRL6s on the M6 in between the Brindle Road overbridge near Cuerden and through junction 25 near Ashton-In-Makerfield.

Ever since 1997 I have been wondering why most of the MRL6 lights were taken down from the central reservation of the M6 Preston Bypass after only being up for 2 years. However I might have found a clue to the mystery. The other day I came across an archived article about the 50th Anniversary Of The M6. Really interesting to read that was. I was really surprised to read that in between October 1995 and February 1996 the M6 Preston Bypass in between junction 31 and junction 32 northeast of Preston had sunk and needed major repair work which lasted on and off from October 1995 until almost August 1996. This was even more surprising when you consider that this section had only just been refurbished and widened to 4 lanes both ways. Another thing that surprised me is the lack of documentation and discussion about this anywhere since a major and very famous road was literary dying. Was this sinking problem the reason the central M6 Preston Bypass MRL6 lights were taken down?

This surprisingly forgotten problem might explain some other mysteries to me. First of all the persistence of scaffolding on many of the bridges of the M6 Preston Bypass for almost 2 years after the widening work was finished in August 1995. I remember seeing scaffolding under the Higher Walton underbridge well into spring 1997. I also remember seeing scaffolding under the Samlesbury underbridge in 1996. Secondly the stub sliproads and underbridge for M6 junction 31a were also ready by August 1995 however junction 31a wasn't finished until summer 1997.


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 Post subject: Re: Motorway Lighting
PostPosted: Fri Aug 04, 2017 5:04 pm 
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The MRL6's were probably temporary, after being decomissioned during the widening works, they were probably reinstated elsewhere on the M6 where the MRL6 continues to thrive. Temporary lighting is common for major roadworks, I can remember Trafficvisions being employed for the Hatfield Tunnel refurbishments around 2010, and the Catthorpe Interchange revamp saw ZX3's on temporary columns as well.


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 Post subject: Re: Motorway Lighting
PostPosted: Fri Aug 04, 2017 7:14 pm 
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All of the MA50s and MA60s on the M54 between the M6 and Junction 2 are being swapped for LEDs. They focussing on the twin armed columns, however, work has started on the single armed MA50's on verges. The brackets are being cut back to accommodate the LEDs.


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 Post subject: Re: Motorway Lighting
PostPosted: Tue Aug 29, 2017 6:51 pm 
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Highways England recently issued the following press release, with 'fake news' shown in red:

Quote:
Highways England’s bright idea for motorway lighting in Yorkshire
Published:24 August 2017

Highways England has proved it’s switched on to innovative lighting ideas after carrying out a series of improvements which could save more than 700 tonnes of carbon a year – enough to power 20,000 homes.

In a national first, contractors working for Highways England worked with specialists to adapt technology used for architectural ornamental lighting, such as monuments and halls, for use on motorways and major A roads.

The improvement work took place on the M62 near Huddersfield and Halifax (junction 22 to 25), and the M621 near Leeds - replacing 1,618 street lights with modern efficient LED lighting units. The new lighting is 53% more efficient saving the equivalent energy of powering the homes of 20,000 people and 389,000 loads of washing. The project also included upgrading street lighting power supply equipment on both roads and the installation of a remote monitoring system which allows contractors to remotely control the lights. The newly-installed LED lights require no routine maintenance, which means less disruption for drivers.

Highways England service delivery team leader for Yorkshire and Humber, Mark Ramsden, said "This is a true example of taking innovation from another industry, modifying it for the highways sector, and improving value by locking in safety, customer, cost efficiencies and environment benefits. We have replaced the conventional lighting with the newly developed lighting to provide bright, effective illumination to highways and road signs – reducing maintenance and road closures for drivers."


Highways England really have not got the slightest clue.

Back in Highways Agency years, the first trunk road installation of LED street lighting was on the A5 in Tamworth back in 2010. The first installation of LED street lighting on a motorway was at M6 Junction 22 on the slip roads back in 2011. I believe the first installation of LED street lighting on a motorway mainline carriageway was on the M3 near Southampton back in 2013. LED lighting has appeared on numerous motorways and A-roads on the Highways England network. I've seen it on the likes of the M1 near Northampton, M6 through Birmingham, A282 Dartford Crossing and A120 near the A12, and I've heard it exists in other places like the M5 and M53. Also, down my way the Area 3 part of Highways England has, I would estimate, rolled out LED lighting to 95% of the roads it maintains, which for motorways alone includes M3 J13-14, M4 J5-8/9, M4 J10-12, M27 J3, M27 J4, M27 J7-8 and M27 J12.

The point is, Highways England are claiming a national first for something that actually happened 7 years earlier, and seem to be oblivious to the fact that there is already a significant amount of LED in some areas.

The other load of bull in the press release is the service delivery team leader claiming that Highways England have driven the innovation and somehow had involvement in developing the LED street lighting, when in fact it has been driven by the manufacturers and there are many dozens of local authorities plus other trunk road authorities in the UK that are also successfully using LED, and some who have been using it for what is now approaching a decade. Evidently this manager is trying to big himself up on false pretences.


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 Post subject: Re: Motorway Lighting
PostPosted: Tue Aug 29, 2017 11:35 pm 
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I read with some interest the above post and I think a few points might be appropriate. First of all, we have to ask who this news item was actually aimed at. In fairness it is the same type of "new LED technology will save thousands" headline which in one form or another has probably featured in pretty much every local rag in the UK.

Unlike those of us on Ukastle or actually in the business itself, most people are probably not the slightest bit interested in what illuminates our roads or motorways, so long as something does. Street lighting is a tricky subject to explain, especially where you have only a limited space or window to put your point across. I would suspect much of what is printed is provided courtesy of that great writing team, Messrs Cut & Paste!

Plenty has been written already about perceived benefits of this technology, some of which certainly brings a smile to my face, but at the end of the day, regardless of the savings, none of it will result in cheaper council tax bills.

An interesting point worth mentioning however is how some news can be distorted or in some cases comical nonsense. An example is how the new lighting is to be remotely operated by contractors. This seems to be a retrograde step, when you consider the original motorway lighting would have been operated remotely by a photocell and a few banks of contactors - for no pay!

Finally, I think it would be prudent to point out that our opinions so expressed on Ukastle are probably viewed by those in the lighting industry, therefore although the above article has obviously raised some hackles with some, I would think some degree of moderation would be good practice,  just in case it is necessary in the future to contact the person mentioned in the article - say, when applying for that dream job for example.

Let's continue to keep the high standards of postings which Ukastle has maintained for the last 10 years.

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 Post subject: Re: Motorway Lighting
PostPosted: Wed Aug 30, 2017 5:52 pm 
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GreatNorburyStDepot wrote:
Finally, I think it would be prudent to point out that our opinions so expressed on Ukastle are probably viewed by those in the lighting industry, therefore although the above article has obviously raised some hackles with some, I would think some degree of moderation would be good practice,  just in case it is necessary in the future to contact the person mentioned in the article - say, when applying for that dream job for example.

Let's continue to keep the high standards of postings which Ukastle has maintained for the last 10 years.


I will leave that for the site moderation team to determine.

For me, it is important that news online is clear and honest. In this case, it wasn't.


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