local council have decided they need to replace and resite streetlamps in
our ward ... looking out I can see a few rings of plastic barriers around
some holes.

Looks like they are moving them back from the kerb to the property
boundary. And we're getting a couple on new ones too.

The old lamps were metal ... so are the new ones. Personally I would have
thought they could have sold the old ones for a vast profit (given the
prices of scrap metal) and then replaced with pre-cast concrete ones.

I wonder of any enterprising metal thieves have turned up in someones
road in hi-vis jackets, and removed all the streetlamps ? I'd guess they
weigh at least 100Kg a piece, so 10 is a tonne ...

Jethro wrote:

The old lamps were metal ... so are the new ones. Personally I would have
thought they could have sold the old ones for a vast profit (given the
prices of scrap metal) and then replaced with pre-cast concrete ones.

I think councils get frightened by lumps dropping off the old concrete
ones ... or perhas their insurers did.

On Wed, 14 Sep 2011 10:06:28 GMT, Jethro
wrote:

local council have decided they need to replace and resite streetlamps in

The old lamps were metal ... so are the new ones. Personally I would have
thought they could have sold the old ones for a vast profit (given the
prices of scrap metal) and then replaced with pre-cast concrete ones.

I wonder of any enterprising metal thieves have turned up in someones
road in hi-vis jackets, and removed all the streetlamps

You never know ,there are a lot of light fingered people about.

G.Harman

In article ,
wrote:
On Wed, 14 Sep 2011 10:06:28 GMT, Jethro
wrote:

I wonder of any enterprising metal thieves have turned up in someones
road in hi-vis jackets, and removed all the streetlamps

You never know ,there are a lot of light fingered people about.

Grone ...

Nick
--
Serendipity: http://www.leverton.org/blosxom (last update 29th March 2010)
"The Internet, a sort of ersatz counterfeit of real life"
-- Janet Street-Porter, BBC2, 19th March 1996

On 14/09/2011 11:06, Jethro wrote:
local council have decided they need to replace and resite streetlamps in
our ward ... looking out I can see a few rings of plastic barriers around
some holes.

Looks like they are moving them back from the kerb to the property
boundary....

That reduces both the risk of people walking into them and the risk of
cars hitting them.

The old lamps were metal ... so are the new ones. Personally I would have
thought they could have sold the old ones for a vast profit (given the
prices of scrap metal) and then replaced with pre-cast concrete ones.

It is easier to make progressively collapsing columns in metal.

I wonder of any enterprising metal thieves have turned up in someones
road in hi-vis jackets, and removed all the streetlamps ? I'd guess they
weigh at least 100Kg a piece, so 10 is a tonne ...

Probably more likely to want the cable feeding them.

Colin Bignell

On Wed, 14 Sep 2011 10:06:28 GMT, Jethro wrote:

local council have decided they need to replace and resite streetlamps in
our ward ... looking out I can see a few rings of plastic barriers around
some holes.

Looks like they are moving them back from the kerb to the property
boundary. And we're getting a couple on new ones too.

The old lamps were metal ... so are the new ones. Personally I would have
thought they could have sold the old ones for a vast profit (given the
prices of scrap metal) and then replaced with pre-cast concrete ones.

I wonder of any enterprising metal thieves have turned up in someones
road in hi-vis jackets, and removed all the streetlamps ? I'd guess they
weigh at least 100Kg a piece, so 10 is a tonne ...

North Tyneside and Newcastle have almost finished installing these. They
are in new places because their pattern of light has been designed by
computer. In some areas they are only on one side of the street.
By and large they are taller and only point downwards, but they can shine
in bedroom windows and sometimes shields are added to prevent this.
They come in various brightness and wavelengths.
My main grumble in this coastal area is that they keep the gulls awake most
of the night.

--
Jim S
Tyneside UK
www.jimscott.co.uk

On Thu, 15 Sep 2011 09:48:14 +0100, Jim S wrote:

North Tyneside and Newcastle have almost finished installing these. They
are in new places because their pattern of light has been designed by
computer. In some areas they are only on one side of the street.
By and large they are taller and only point downwards, but they can shine
in bedroom windows and sometimes shields are added to prevent this.
They come in various brightness and wavelengths.
My main grumble in this coastal area is that they keep the gulls awake most
of the night.

So bright that at 3am you can open a curtain and read a book 50 yards
from the nearest lamp.


--

The Other Mike wrote:

So bright that at 3am you can open a curtain and read a book 50 yards
from the nearest lamp.

You should be so lucky, those streetlights round here that haven't been
decomissioned completely, switch off at midnight ...

On Thu, 15 Sep 2011 23:34:24 +0100, The Other Mike
wrote:

On Thu, 15 Sep 2011 09:48:14 +0100, Jim S wrote:

North Tyneside and Newcastle have almost finished installing these. They
are in new places because their pattern of light has been designed by
computer. In some areas they are only on one side of the street.
By and large they are taller and only point downwards, but they can shine
in bedroom windows and sometimes shields are added to prevent this.
They come in various brightness and wavelengths.
My main grumble in this coastal area is that they keep the gulls awake most
of the night.

So bright that at 3am you can open a curtain and read a book 50 yards
from the nearest lamp.

The streetlights around here were changed around 5 years ago (a
contract for renewal and maintenance awarded to Balfour Beatty via a
local setup known as Aurora) from mainly a sort of inverted truncated
cone which gave no light beneath and quite a lot of light shining into
house windows around, and walls of buildings. The new lamps cast their
light more or less downwards.

The initial feeling generally was that streets seemed darker, because
people looking out of their windows were less dazzled - however,
illumination of the carriageways and footways when walking or driving
is much better.

It's a pity that some lamps are buried by the overhang from trees in
private gardens which almost completely obliterate a few footpaths,
causing the premature deaths of slugs and snails ...

--
Frank Erskine
Sunderland

It amazes me how the individual photocells turn them all on within a few
minutes when the daylight starts to fail. Amazing accuracy and consistency.

DerbyBoy wrote:

It amazes me how the individual photocells turn them all on within a few
minutes when the daylight starts to fail. Amazing accuracy and consistency.

So, they're not wired the way they used to be with a master cell or
timer turning the whole street on and off, then?

Then again, making and selecting photocells with a couple of percent
difference between a batch is trivial.

--
Tciao for Now!

John.

On Sep 14, 11:06*am, Jethro wrote:
local council have decided they need to replace and resite streetlamps in
our ward ... looking out I can see a few rings of plastic barriers around
some holes.

Looks like they are moving them back from the kerb to the property
boundary. And we're getting a couple on new ones too.

The old lamps were metal ... so are the new ones. Personally I would have
thought they could have sold the old ones for a vast profit (given the
prices of scrap metal) and then replaced with pre-cast concrete ones.

I wonder of any enterprising metal thieves have turned up in someones
road in hi-vis jackets, and removed all the streetlamps ? I'd guess they
weigh at least 100Kg a piece, so 10 is a tonne ...

Concrete posts went out of production mid -80`s , have Concrete
Utilities ltd , now CU Phosco , light outside my window.

http://www.cuphosco.com/History.html

Corrosion can , literally, be a killer to metal lamp posts , dog urine
is suprsingly corrosive, was about 2 deaths a year attribiuted to lamp
posts falling on people.

Modern streetlights are usually some form of high pressure sodium, its
whiter thamn low pressure sodium which is distinctive monochrome
yellow, only place left making the lamps is Philips factory in
Hamilton. Concrete posts can have a retrofit new head put on them.

Cheers
Adam

On Fri, 16 Sep 2011 08:58:49 +0100, "DerbyBoy" No-one
wrote:

It amazes me how the individual photocells turn them all on within a few
minutes when the daylight starts to fail. Amazing accuracy and consistency.

I'm sure that the light level falls quite rapidly once the sun gets
low in the sky.

IIRC the eye's response is logarithmic so we don't notice it changing
so quickly.

Derek G

On 16 Sep,
Adam Aglionby wrote:

Modern streetlights are usually some form of high pressure sodium, its
whiter thamn low pressure sodium which is distinctive monochrome
yellow, only place left making the lamps is Philips factory in
Hamilton.

The new ones round here were metal halide. Unfortunately the same geer as HP
sodium, So the skinflint contractors maintaining them are spoiling the
integrated look by replacing with the cheaper bulbs.

They are designed to be mounted (almost) horizontal, but again the skinflint
contractor used old style poles which mean they point into the bedrooms
opposite.

They are, however, better than the horizontally beamed 60s concrete poles
they replaced.

--
B Thumbs
Change lycos to yahoo to reply

On Wed, 14 Sep 2011 10:06:28 +0000, Jethro wrote:

local council have decided they need to replace and resite streetlamps
in our ward ... looking out I can see a few rings of plastic barriers
around some holes.

Looks like they are moving them back from the kerb to the property
boundary. And we're getting a couple on new ones too.

Well, turns out where I thought we were getting new ones, we didn't ...
they were just accessing the cabling I guess. Anyway, tonight, after a
noisy afternoon, we got back from a meal, and our lad spotted
straightaway, that the new lamps were on.

Quite an improvement. They have 36 LEDs (or LED clusters), with quite a
white, clinical light. They're about 2m taller than the old ones (which
are still there, but off). They certainly seem to throw more light, and
the design seems to leave no light going up ... since they are doing tne
whole city apparently (Birmingham), it'll be interesting to see how many
more stars we can see when it's done.

Also be curious as to how much money we'll save in 'leccy costs. Not that
my council tax will come down.

On Wed, 28 Sep 2011 20:37:49 GMT, Jethro wrote:

Also be curious as to how much money we'll save in 'leccy costs.

Probably won't street lighting is unmetered and is fixed fee. Of
course with reduced demand it might be possible for the council to
renegociate the contract.

With LEDs I'd expect a much reduce maintenance/lamp replacement bill.

--
Cheers
Dave.