I wonder if the forthcoming PFI and the price differential between SON and CDO-TT is what is causing cheaper SON lamps to be refitted again?Southampton have mistakingly fitted SON lamps in metal halide illuminated streets for a good few years now, although this has been on the scale of perhaps three or four per road, still outnumbered by metal halide. Winchester Road is an extreme example. It probably has elements of both cost cutting and carelessness to it.
Something else I remembered, there are a few columns up on the Chilworth Gyratory that haven't worked for years. When I say years, I mean they haven't worked as long as I have had a driving license (5 years), and have probably not been working for a couple of years prior to that time. About this time of year back in 2007 the columns had their original Z9555 'bricks' replaced with ZX3s, but the outages still weren't fixed. However, now that the new lanterns on the old columns are three years old, the outages have now been fixed, and the lanterns have powered up for the first time, three years late! I suppose it proves that Southampton can fix defects occasionally.
Meanwhile, some of you may remember me telling you of the imminent death of Z9450s in about September or October 2008. I'm glad to say, the last Z9450 is still there, still in perfect condition and still doing nightly service, sat on top of its seemingly structurally good concrete column with no visible signs of defects. Exactly, why replace what appears to be a sound column with a sound lantern? At the rate things are going, the Z9450 will not be replaced with the ZX2 on the new column, it will be replaced with whatever lanterns the PFI installs on new columns. I expect there will be three columns side by side, with the service transferred from the oldest to newest, skipping the intermediate! Goes to show, Southampton has the cash to spend. It's not as if their road network isn't one of the worst in the developed world and would give third world roads a run for their money.