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Motorway Lighting
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Author:  Phosco152 [ Sun May 09, 2021 9:30 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Motorway Lighting

Whilst you are entitled to your opinion, you may want to consider some of the facts.

The colder colour LEDs were until recently the most efficient, it is only in the last couple of years that warmer colour LEDs have been available with higher efficiencies. Therefore they will for the time being, be less common.

Smart sensors cost significantly more than group switching - as currently used. Highways England do however use RF nodes on other parts of the network. Fitting of a CMS does not make an installation more reliable, unless maintenance work is carried out to repair faults.

Relamping of a motorway is a significant exercise in terms of lane closures, let alone manpower and materials, therefore the lamps are likely to be run to a significant number of failures before replacement.

Given the capital cost of new LED luminaries and that lighting has been removed on many motorways, even on the Smart/managed sections, plus the increased environmental awareness, I wouldn't be surprised if that section of lighting is eventually switched off entirely and then removed. I very much doubt it will get new SON lamps in a relamp.

Author:  Alpha3 [ Mon May 10, 2021 1:50 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Motorway Lighting

I always thought that section of lighting from J30 to J27 was very much unnecessary, even in the glorious MA60 days. I feel it would be appropriate to remove all lighting until J27. In fact, you could probably extend that idea to all parts of the M25 excluding between J1 & 2 and between J7 and 16. The rest should be mostly unlit imo. Reminds me of the miles and miles of unnecessary lighting on the M1 until 5-7 years ago.

Author:  sotonsteve [ Mon May 10, 2021 7:36 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Motorway Lighting

Even less of the M25 actually needs continuous lighting than that suggestion in my opinion.

Whilst LED lighting may consume less energy, there is still a significant amount of infrastructure to inspect and maintain. Motorway lighting is very cable intensive. Unlike local highways, which feed off district network operator supplies that provide electricity to everything, motorway lighting is specific cables. The policy nowadays also seems significantly more cable-intensive, and in some locations when relighting they relay much more cable than they remove. This is because of a desire to limit the number of columns fed by any single feed, so in the event of an accident they can isolate at a feeder pillar. In some locations, they literally have one cable per column coming from the feeder pillar. I also suspect that instead of using three-phase cables, they have three lots of single phase cables for the same reason. Very expensive and complex.

Highways England has got to be the worst authority in the country for street lighting maintenance. I've never seen so many outages or dayburning as on the Highways England network. If a column gets knocked down, it can also be years before a replacement. They also seem to have more cases of columns or lanterns structurally failing and falling to ground than local authority lighting. They seem highly incompetent at operating street lighting, irrespective of what part of the country you go to. So, the less lighting the better in that sense, as there is less for them to mismanage.

Author:  Alpha3 [ Tue May 11, 2021 5:09 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Motorway Lighting

Be interesting to the see the state of our motorways street lighting in 20 years time. If I were in charge I would be undertaking a mass streetlight removal scheme across much of the country. While not technically a motorway, the A2 section between Black Prince & the M25 had all its aging ZX3s removed recently, an excellent decision imo.

As for poor maintenance, I’m sure it’s been mentioned, but on the M20 there is a column that lost its ZX3s in 2004 & as far as I’m aware, the column is still bare! Odd, considering casual replacements (though only with other ZX3s which tells me even these are old, the stretch dates to 1995 IIRC) are visible. At this rate, they’d be better off giving control of lighting and signage to the local council which the motorway resides in, though I know that probably would never happen.

Author:  SpeedStar [ Fri Jul 23, 2021 4:24 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Motorway Lighting

Driving to my gran's today, I noticed that the Evolos  and MRL6s/Z8600s on the M1 from J21-21A have been replaced by Philips Luma 2s and Thorn R2L2s.

Author:  sotonsteve [ Tue Oct 12, 2021 5:36 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Motorway Lighting

I understand that the catenary lighting on the M1 has come down (or is in the process of coming down). I've seen pictures on Lighting Gallery of a haul of Phosco lanterns heading north to new homes with collectors.

Author:  Fanye01 [ Fri Oct 15, 2021 4:51 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Motorway Lighting

sotonsteve wrote:
I understand that the catenary lighting on the M1 has come down (or is in the process of coming down). I've seen pictures on Lighting Gallery of a haul of Phosco lanterns heading north to new homes with collectors.

Dare say I wasn't expecting this. Just seen the photos myself of gallery user Danny. Interesting to understand the scale of the Phoscos when strapped on top of a Volvo v70 :lol:

Am I right in assuming the Alpha 8s south of the Phoscos/MA60s are for the literal chop too? I cannot recall if they were in use last time I drove there (c2019).

Author:  Ro Jo Jnr [ Sun Oct 17, 2021 3:11 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Motorway Lighting

I was having a look to see if anything had changed streetlight-wise on the journey I used to do down to my nan's in Kent and found a couple of significant things:

The elderly SGS203s / SGS204s on the A282 between Dartford River Crossing and the A2 junction have finally been replaced with LED lanterns on new columns!

The Trafficvisions on the Medway Bridge on the M2 have been retrofitted with LED lanterns. The new lanterns are a very good match to what they replaced!

Author:  Fanye01 [ Sun Oct 17, 2021 7:58 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Motorway Lighting

Indo Air 3s! First use on the UK network? Interesting choice too.

Author:  GreatNorburyStDepot [ Sat Nov 13, 2021 11:55 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Motorway Lighting

Just a quick report, but driving along the M60 this evening towards J1 (Stockport town centre), the surviving short stretch of MA60's looks to be in a poor state of repair once again.

Out of the whole installation, I counted only five lanterns actually working.

In view that the stretch would have normally been relamped long before so many outages were apparent, you do wonder if HA have finally called it a day. The MA's further up towards Denton roundabout are still in situ (including the two pairs of GEC 'bricks' either side of the railway line as it crosses over the motorway), but I cannot confirm the operational status.

On a further note (although only very loosely related to motorway lighting), the number of GEC 'bricks' still in situ at the junction of Clark Way and the exit sliproad off the erstwhile M67 have now been reduced to just two. One has been missing its bowl for a while now, whilst the other 's bowl looks to be coming adrift on one side.

When the M67 was built, the original portion from Hyde to just beyond Broomstair Bridge / Denton (J2) was lit entirely by GEC Z9565s, with 135W versions used on the sliproads and Clark Way.

Whilst Tameside MBC is continuing to bulk relight its main routes with Holophane VMAX, it is also casually replacing any failed SOX / SON lanterns with them too.

Some installations have seen their bracket arms pruned back to accept the new lanterns, such as those off J24 / A57 / Manchester Road. I think they are using the 6 or 7 chevron type in this location and being warm white, make a pleasant change from the Arcs which were latterly employed here.

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