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PostPosted: Sun Apr 05, 2015 5:34 pm 
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More changes to motorway lighting on the M27,  at J4, work started last week replacing the ZX4s at that location with Lumas, like at J12 in my earlier post.

Work so far has been on the east side of the junction.


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PostPosted: Thu Apr 16, 2015 4:56 pm 
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The replacement of the ZX4s with Lumas at J12 of the M27 to the north of Portsmouth has now reached the main carriageway.

The first short section to be converted is from the start of the M27 at Highbury, a few hundred yards west to the section running over the Portsbridge roundabout. This means the ZX4s in this scene are no more.


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PostPosted: Fri Apr 17, 2015 2:11 pm 
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And now with pictures!

This is what the start of the M27 at its eastern end used to look like. This view taken June 2012. These columns are 18m tall.

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As mentioned yesterday, the ZX4s are being replaced, it now looks like this:

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In the background there are some columns mounted to the flyover which crosses Portsbridge roundabout. These are being removed in favour of new columns planted in the embankment abutments - some aluminium columns have already been installed. However the latest replacements are mounted in the ground on the roundabout underneath. This requires very tall columns - the ZX4 columns at this point are 15m and it requires probably another 6-7m to get down to the ground level below. This probably explains why they are hex section steel columns - the headless ones in this zoomed view.

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Close up of bracket, extension/packing section (see earlier posts for the reason) and Lumas.

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Meanwhile at the western end of the M27 at J4..

A few weeks ago the ZX4s were replaced on the M27 west to M3 north link with Lumas. This week the M27 east to M3 north link has been done at the diverge point from the main M27 eastbound carriageway. This has seen not only the ZX4s be replaced but also some the SON Sapphires that were installed at the end of 2008 as part of the widening approaching this junction from the west.

New steel columns are also in place in embankments so that some of the bridge mounted columns can be removed.


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PostPosted: Sat Apr 18, 2015 8:50 pm 
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The ZX4 to Luma conversions on the M27 allow the unique opportunity whilst the work is part complete to compare the performance of the ZX4s against the Lumas.

This view is of one the link roads from the M27 at J4 to the M3. The ZX4s are single optic running 400W SON (56k Lumens) so around 445W circuit power. The Lumas are 213W circuit power (34k Lumens).

Despite the lower level of Lumens from the Lumas, the carriageway appears more brightly and more uniformly lit, without the light/dark patches of the ZX4, although it should be noted that the optics in the ZX4 are less advanced to say the Iridium.

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So less than half the circuit wattage, using 60% of the Lumens and providing a better level of illumination and with less back spill, now wonder LED is catching on....


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PostPosted: Sat Apr 18, 2015 9:39 pm 
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In that particular case the LED installation provides better light distribution, however I'm left unconvinced by some pretty poor results I've seen elsewhere.


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PostPosted: Sun Apr 19, 2015 7:25 am 
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Motorway LED is proving quite good results (height & spacing)
Where as when you get down to side roads all depends on how 'eco greedy'' your council is. Our SpeedStars are fantastic for lighting the A46 and I/we have grown accustom to them.


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PostPosted: Mon Apr 20, 2015 9:38 am 
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SilverRay88 wrote:
In that particular case the LED installation provides better light distribution, however I'm left unconvinced by some pretty poor results I've seen elsewhere.



I think that is more to do with the poor retrofits, poor spacings and fitting of LED lanterns to all manor of odd ball brackets leading to some of them being angled up at 30º others flat etc.


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PostPosted: Sat May 16, 2015 2:36 pm 
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Luma replacements for the ZX4s at J12 at the M27 appear to be complete (although I didn't drive round every link road of the interchange), with the Lumas also marching up Portsdown Hill to the end of the lighting where the motorway crosses Allaway Avenue.

Further west at J4, Lumas have now completely replaced the Sapphires on the east bound carriageway of the M27, the west bound carriageway has yet to be completed. These Sapphires are not even 6.5 years old, having being installed at the end of 2008 when the carriageway was widened.


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PostPosted: Sun May 17, 2015 8:49 am 
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Junction 12 is not quite complete. On the westbound M27 there are a couple of new 18m octagonal steel columns that have not yet been fitted with Lumas, whilst eastbound there is an existing bridge-mounted column which has had its ZX4 removed but the column has not been removed.

Works at Junction 4 have indeed resumed and replacements are now at roughly the halfway point. It is worth noting that the columns on the central reservation of the M27 through the junction will not be having lantern swaps at this stage. They will have reprieve for a few more months but are not destined to see out the year. The only ZX4s on the M27 that will see 2016 will be those in the Junction 7 and 8 area.


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PostPosted: Thu May 21, 2015 6:10 pm 
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Vintage photos from way back in 2003, showing the old lighting on the A27 between the M27 and A3(M) north of Portsmouth:

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A lot has happened since 2003. The columns on the A27 were installed in about 1980, when widening of the A27 was completed. The 10m Stainton columns were fitted with GEC Z9553 "Geared Bricks" running 135W SOX. The 12m Stainton columns were fitted with GEC Z9563 "Geared Bricks" running 180W SOX. The 15m Stainton columns were fitted with GEC Z8536 "Geared Turtles" running 400W SON. Casual replacements were in the form of Philips MA50s, Philips MA60s and Urbis ZX3s. In about 2004, all of the remaining original lanterns were replaced with Philips SRS201s and Urbis ZX3s. In 2005, the Highways Agency started removing columns from the central reservation due to corrosion issues with the holding down bolts at the foundations. Every now and then for a couple of years, more columns were removed, and in Autumn 2007 all remaining columns in the central reservation were disconnected, and all but a couple of columns removed. The last couple of columns were removed a few years later.

The slip road columns retained their Philips SRS201s until 2012 when they were swapped out for WRTL Luma 3 lanterns. The Portsbridge slip roads featured 12m Stainton tubular steel columns installed in 2002 and fitted with Urbis ZX3s. In 2012, column replacement with new aluminium columns took place on the eastbound side, with Lumas fitted to the new columns. The westbound slip road received post-top adapters and new Lumas. Column replacement took place on the eastbound side because the fools who installed the columns in 2002 planted them in front of the crash barrier! Meanwhile, even the Urbis ZX4s dating from circa. 1995 on the M27 have been replaced (just recently) with Lumas.


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