Given the age of the existing verge lighting and the cabling, I suspect the old cabling was decommissioned to ensure it didn't get damaged (and reduce the risk to workers cutting through a live cable) when the new verge lighting was installed. The new lighting probably uses all new cabling.

Also new cabling was run through the new concrete barrier, and probably has yet to be connected. It may well have been installed by contractors and since the supply comes from a feeder pillar it may not need SEC to do the final connection, however it will need a full installation test to be carried out which may not have been done yet. Earth loop testing will need to be done at each column which will need an overnight lane closure of at least one outside lane.

Similarly, M27 J4, works, at the end of 2008, turning on the new lighting was one of the last jobs done and again the old lighting was decommissioned as one of the first jobs.

If they were 'my columns', and I didn't mind the road being unlit for a period of time, I would rather remove the old columns first and then install the new columns afterwards, rather than having the two side by side. Firstly, removing the old columns before the new columns are installed would reduce the risk of the new columns being damaged by the removal of old columns. We may like to think that all street lighting contractors treat street lighting with respect, but there are many who, how should I put this, couldn't really give a damn as long as they get paid at the end of the day. Getting the old columns out of the way before installing new columns would also make the job of installing new columns less constrained for space. Also, on the Havant Bypass, the old and new columns aren't protected by crash barriers. Hence, minimising the number of roadside objects as much as possible improves the passive safety of the road.

Well some more pictures from the A27 Havant bypass.

8 and 10m aluminium columns with flat glass Sapphires on the Broadmarsh slip road.



New Stainton hex/oct galv columns on central reservation barrier, note mid hinged example near power lines. On the slip roads, mid hinged columns have also been used instead of the aluminium ones where there are power lines.



New lighting uses new cabling but existing feeder pillars. It looks like each circuit is a ring rather than a radial. Good idea as it prevents a single cable fault taking out an entire circuit.



Meanwhile further west along the A27, on the A2030 westbound exit slip, a brand new shoed MA60 has been fitted to a column which lost its spigot version more than 2 years ago. The new MA60 was actually fitted a while back, but I forgot to mention it..

Interesting that they've used an MA60 casual in that example yet in one of the above pictures you can see where in the past they've casually replaced some MA60s with ZX3s thereby creating a horrid SOX/SON mish-mash. Why didn't they use new MA60s on those columns I wonder?

Those ZX3's must be as new as those columns just installed, why install new ZX3's on columns about to be replaced!?

I'm thinking that the HA have decided to do a PFI of their own and a very wasteful one an' all. I mean, why replace a lantern which has been installed within 5 years of it life then replace it with summat else with gets replaced within the next 40 odd years It doesn't add up.

Give it 30 years and most of the MA50's, 60's and 90's will be gone but the HA could convert these to run on flouresont lamps meaning that the lantern shall never need to be replaced, just the wiring, ballast and lamp type.

At this rate, will SOX even be around in 30 years?

Possibly on the M53 as thats a forgotton motorway and that will be it.

MA60s can't be used for new installations as they no longer meet colour rendering requirements of the British Standards. The one I mentioned was a a casual on a installation that was already a MA60 installation. The entire slip road was lit by MA60s.

Those ZX3s mentioned could be 10 years or more in age as they have been the usual casual replacement lantern. This is why the use of the the MA60 was odd. The MA60 is a couple of miles west of those pictures.

A MA60 running fluorescent will not produce enough light so it is a non starter of an idea, plus the conversion would not be a simple one from an engineering point of view. The lantern would have to be gutted and there are not fixing bosses in the fibre glass of the canopy for the components.

The casual replacement ZX3s on the Havant Bypass and slip roads are new casual replacements, because until recently all SOX lit sections were 100% SOX. I think some of the new columns had actually sprouted before casual replacement ZX3s were fitted to some of the existing columns.