New lamp post(s)

[ss201]

There is a concrete lamp post right outside my house, at the edge of the pavement. Yesterday, the County Council installed a taller, metal lamp post, 4-5 feet further in from the pavement edge, with all the associated hole digging, noise and mess.. The existing lamp post is still in situ and will be removed in due course, by the electricity supply company, according to the County Council workmen (nice old school lads. btw).

When I asked the workmen why the old lamp post was being replaced, they said it was because the number of lamp posts, positioned close to the road, that were being damaged by vehicles was approximately one every two weeks. With tongue in cheek, I asked "has no one caught this woman yet?", which did get a laugh from the "lads". They also said that all the concete lamp posts in the area (of which there are many) are curently being replaced.

Note - this work of installing the new posts is being undertaken by the County Council (funded by Council Tax payers, incidentally), who also have the responsibility of maintaining our road surfaces.........

Now we all know that Council budgets have been cut, while Council Tax charges have increased again this year. It does beg the question - if monery is tight, why replace hundreds of working lamp posts and ignore our disgraceful (and often dangerous) road surfaces?

Answers on a postcard, please.

 

[saff]

I can offer no reasonable suggestions to your question other than as a Lancashire resident and LCC Council Tax payer for decades its likely down to the ineptitude of LCC to run the highways efficiently.
I'm not a fan.

 

[neilrr]

Maybe because there is no 'give' in concrete lampposts & any RTC involving one may injure car occupants much more than a new lamppost designed to collapse? All about liability & potential lawsuits? Also a thing to consider is the mantra of councils & the public sector in general - There is nothing easier to spend than other people's money.

 

[W1ghty]

My council have just added a 6ft metal extension post to the top of the all the lampposts and changed them to some white LED horror

 

[Petrol Pete]

Could they be old enough to have the dreaded 'concrete cancer' ? They might be at the end of their natural life due to structural steel rebar corrosion limitations.

They might be $hit scared of getting sued in one falls on someones head, while at the same time not being really bothered about motorists and cyclists hitting pot holes.

I gave up trying to work out local councils thought processes years ago.

 

[anglaslt]

.........because it can also be used as an EV charge point ?

 

[190]

When I asked the workmen why the old lamp post was being replaced, they said it was because the number of lamp posts, positioned close to the road, that were being damaged by vehicles was approximately one every two weeks. With tongue in cheek, I asked "has no one caught this woman yet?",

True story.

When my youngest sister was learning to drive she was taken out one Sunday by my brother in his 6 month old car. She mounted the pavement at relatively low speed and hit a concrete lamp post close to the pavement edge which snapped off at the bottom and came down on the car roof. The car was written off.

 

[saff]

True story.

When my youngest sister was learning to drive she was taken out one Sunday by my brother in his 6 month old car. She mounted the pavement at relatively low speed and hit a concrete lamp post close to the pavement edge which snapped off at the bottom and came down on the car roof. The car was written off.

EEK! I'm hoping they were both ok?

 

[saff]

My council have just added a 6ft metal extension post to the top of the all the lampposts and changed them to some white LED horror

We had the heads of ours changed to LED a few years back. I'm sure they must be more eco-whatever but the light they give is not so good.

 

[A.J.]

True story.

When my youngest sister was learning to drive she was taken out one Sunday by my brother in his 6 month old car. She mounted the pavement at relatively low speed and hit a concrete lamp post close to the pavement edge which snapped off at the bottom and came down on the car roof. The car was written off.

As was the lamppost

 

[BigJase88]

We had the heads of ours changed to LED a few years back. I'm sure they must be more eco-whatever but the light they give is not so good.

They do save a lot of energy but yeah they don't give off great light

 

[flying haggis]

hundreds if not thousands of lamp posts in Norwich were replaced years ago with LED topped ones. dont know what it must have cost but the elec savings will surely never fully repay the cost. at least the old sodium ones didnt flash like the new led ones do when they go wrong

 

[BigJase88]

hundreds if not thousands of lamp posts in Norwich were replaced years ago with LED topped ones. dont know what it must have cost but the elec savings will surely never fully repay the cost. at least the old sodium ones didnt flash like the new led ones do when they go wrong

All about saving the planet though ain't it. Looks good and sounds brill in meetings though doesn't it

SON's can still flicker too

 

[SeagullFan]

Inept = Council

 

[A.J.]

Inept = Council

= pretty much every Council in the country

 

[Webbo15]

Every structure has a finite life and concrete columns are no exception. There are commonly 2 types, Older ones, many dating from the early 1950's, contain steel reinforcing bars and later ones also contain steel reinforcement but the rods are pre-stressed. This allowed a slimmer style to be adopted. Pre-stressed columns are liable to total failure if given even a slight knock by a vehicle. Older reinforced types can withstand much more abuse but still suffer from rusting of the steelwork within the structure.

LED street lighting lanterns have been almost universally adopted in the UK because of their energy saving properties and are available in a range of outputs so can be used for side road lighting and also main road lighting. If they are not providing an adequate level of lighting in a particular street then the wrong lantern has been used. The designer takes into account the road classification and layout, traffic volumes etc to determine the lighting level required and then chooses the mounting height and spacing of the columns and finally the lantern that will give the output and distribution of light output required. The uniformity of the lighting is also an important factor.

Hope this helps

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Inept = Council

It’s a good job that all of the inept, incompetent and wasteful people are forced to work for local councils, Government departments, NHS, education, Police force, and so on, so that we know where they all are. If they weren’t forced to do that then there’s enough of them to ruin businesses too.

People working for the local councils are people just like you, me and other MBClub members, and broadly reflect the rest of society. If people working for the council are inept, then society is also inept, and that means that you, me and other MBClub members are inept too.

Whilst it might be convenient to come up with a generic insult for a generic group of people, the reality will be quite different. There will be good reasons for replacing lampposts, linked to road safety, structural integrity, natural lifecycle and yes maybe to reduce electricity consumption and therefore running costs.

If they weren’t replaced then someone somewhere - probably on MBClub too - would be complaining that local councils were inept because they weren’t replacing them, causing unnecessary hazards for road users and wasting money due to spiralling energy costs, etc.

 

[Piff]

Then there is the need to spend the budget this year so that they get the same or larger budget next year...................

 

[SeagullFan]

Bobby Dazzler, if it were only lampposts then I may agree with you.

I assume your opening paragraph was supposedly an attempt of sarcasm. Your second to garner other MB club members.

I in no way was aiming any form of insult at other members what so ever.

 

[SeagullFan]

Piff, and there is much truth in this. I knew first hand a business who supplied office furniture. Every March local procurement came to spend their remaining budget before they lost it. Irrespective of the fact that much of the previous years was still wrapped in polythene , unused.

I know of other wasteful incidents relating to maintenance of public sector buildings refurbished, unopened and then disposed of. Brand new equipment installed that was not allowed to back into stores as it would be ‘more expensive’ to catalogue and add to inventory, so just skip it. These weren’t just a few pence items, but things such as light fittings, radiators etc.