Following on from the A-road SOX/SON purge, Herts coucil has announced that all of their lighting stock on B, C and U roads will be replaced with LED versions between now and 2017. I presume most of the old columns/brackets will be retained, as they were on the A roads.

A little sad, but unfortunately all but a few SOX lanterns have been purged from the market, so you can't blame them given that the equipment necessary for consistent casual reps is just not there anymore.

I wonder if there is any firm that could buy out the design rights for the SRS201 series, and reposition it as a lantern to tackle light pollution with high efficiency. There are still plenty of counties that are stuck with SON stock from the 80s and 90s who could serve as a potential market. I can't help myself but think that SOX is still relevant today for outdoor applications.

The lack of SOX lanterns on the market is not the cause of the decline of SOX, it is the product of the decline of SOX. Street lighting design standards effectively outlaw SOX due to its lack of colour rendering, and SOX lamps, lanterns and gear are relatively expensive. The SRS201 has been discontinued, and the largest wattage SOX lanterns now available in Europe are 90W.

SOX lamps and gear have become expensive because the market has diminished sharply. Contractors aren't buying the equipment in bulk, and the price for them can only go up when manufacturers find it's only economically viable to produce even less lamps, ignitors, and ballasts. It's a spiral of decline that can only be reversed by more fresh orders for uniform SOX gear.

Noticed the other day that these SGS203s on Hainault Street in Ilford (which have been there for as long as I can remember) have had their brackets and lanterns replaced with an eclectic mix of Furyos and TRT Aspects (the Furyos are metal halide, the Aspects are LED). So we have two completely different kinds of white light next to each other on the same street!

It also seems as if the scheme where ZX1s on some side streets were beginning to be overhauled has started up again after a break of several months. Several streets in the Seven Kings area have seen the ZX1s swapped for TRT Aspects, which is a little strange as the scheme was begun with Axias. I guess Redbridge Council is just going for whatever lantern is the cheapest at the time.

In a classic case of county council poor planning,  the A27 St Margaret's roundabout at Titchfield in Fareham borough is having the approach lanes widened. This mean removal of columns installed by the PFI literally 2 years ago to the day - the columns were noted today already excavated. PFI and road scheme both under the jurisdiction of  Hampshire CC.

This won't be the only example of wasting money, there are numerous widening schemes planned on this section of road (from M27 J9 towards the town centre) - approximately a 5 mile stretch - which will need new columns moving - probably 50-100 columns.

Remembering back to those years when most of the UK's streetlighting was the subject of "make do and mend", the fortunes of such services have certainly changed, especially with PFIs and other Government approved finance solutions.

There seems to be plenty of money available to invest in new lighting, however along with that investment there will be waste. - A typical example could be the installation of new lighting columns in a road improvement scheme, when the existing assets may only be a couple of years old - perhaps originally installed as a PFI.

I would suggest there are a number of reasons why this situation is encountered a lot these days.

1. The cost of the scheme.

The cost of any improvement scheme will include everything required for the contract, including new lighting.

2. Source of funds.

Depending on its size and importance to the local / national economy, the cost of the scheme will primarily be met by central / local government  (taxpayers) along with other sources such as private developers and the EU in certain cases.

Although we are now living in an era of austerity,  traditionally the annual budget for any council service, has been on the basis that it is there to be spent in that financial year (and not saved up). Money not spent in that year, would be deducted from the following year's allocation.
In the old days, it was common to have a big "end of financial year" spending spree to see off any surplus in the coffers. Although I would be surprised if this system still operates, it might be that old habits die hard.

In these more fiscally aware times, schemes now have to show the benefits for each pound invested, before approval is given. Even if the existing lighting is reasonably new, investing in brand new lighting presumably has a greater cost benefit to the scheme as a whole and will allow approval and potentially greater funding.

3. Cost in time and labour.
It mustn't be forgotten that the amongst the greatest cost implications for any road scheme is labour and time. If a job can be done quickly, it will save both time and wages as well as inconvenience for road users. Although a road widening scheme will obviously mean the uprooting of plenty of existing columns, it must work out quicker and cheaper to purchase and install new columns in the new positions and scrap the existing ones when their time comes. To uproot columns (with risk of damage), inspect them and then erect them on a new site would take longer and cost more in labour.

4. Support for industry.

An often underestimated impact of being thrifty with "nearly new" columns is that it can have serious consequences for UK industry. Although over the decades, our manufacturing bases have been steadily eroded, steel lighting columns are still made here, providing employment to many. In the same way, the local PTEs of the 80s were operating a policy of scrapping buses that were only 12 years old. A similar argument was offered in that by replacing vehicles regularly, the bus industry was supported.

To conclude, it would therefore make some sense in replacing columns that were in the way of a new scheme, or simply past their best.

That said, there have been other schemes where the rush to eradicate SON in favour of LEDs has seen a lot of waste. Surely it wasn't necessary to replace both lantern and column, such as on the M60 near Cheadle.

At least the recycling yards will be kept busy. Its just a pity we don't have many steelworks left to send the scrap to!

_________________
"I can't think what you want to go to London for, you won't find any better lampposts there..."
L.S. Lowry. 1887-1976.

TfL's A road LED scheme continues with avengeance. Noticed today that these Evolo 2s on columns which were once blue but were re-painted grey and held SGS203s until shortly before the Olympics are now being completely replaced with post-top Urbis Amperas on black columns. Fitting the Evolos and repainting the columns now seems an entirely wasted effort!

Also just as wasteful is these three-year-old Holophane Estilos, which were again retrofits for SGS203s shortly before the Olympics, are now also being replaced, again with post-top Amperas on new columns. I did think the Estilos were a bit of a pointless upgrade though (apart from the fact they are much newer models and some of the SGS203s were looking a bit grubby) since they ran SON like the SGS203s before them. It would have made more sense to have installed metal halide bulbs instead or fitted LED lanterns at that point, especially as it was to smarten up the street scene for the Olympics.

Have you got any news articles or anything to back this statement up, because I am unable to find anything.

http://www.ringway.co.uk/our-contracts/term-maintenance-services/hertfordshire/hertfordshire-s-b-c-and-unclassified-roads-led-upgrade

http://www.hertsdirect.org/services/transtreets/highways/highwaysinfo/ledaroads/

All casual replacements for distributor roads since last Autumn have been Amperas mounted post-top on steel columns. Side roads have had a different lantern that I haven't identified yet, but they're also post-top.

Thanks.

So it seems that these plans will still not cull everything, as it suggests only the "all night" lighting is being upgraded to LED, and not the part night lighting.