When local authorities and parish councils are approached by organisations to put up festive lights, hanging baskets and banners, they understand that they need to have a BS EN 40 design carried out on the column or columns which are going to take the attachment. Critical criteria are required in order to satisfy the designer that the existing column is structurally sound enough to take the additional load of the said attachments. This design costs much more than a standard structural test and for peace of mind, it is well worth it.
The UK is undergoing an LED revolution. The promise of energy saving from swapping out old lanterns and lamps and switching them to modern, low cost, low energy alternatives has local authorities up and down the country swapping out thousands at a time. To date it is rumoured that over two fifths of the country has been converted to LED lanterns and the conversion pace doesn’t show signs of letting up.
It is therefore interesting to note that some authorities have chosen not to carry out a design when switching over to the new LED lanterns, which in some cases can be significantly heavier or have a greater windage than the lanterns they replace. This oversight could lead to stresses and strains on columns that have been in the ground for many years already and not designed to hold the new LED lantern.
Electrical Testing have been able to provide a solution to various authorities who have sought to seek out some clarity on their LED upgrades and the potential pitfalls so that they can continue at pace to upgrade their lighting for the benefit of the residents, public and council coffers.
If you’ve any questions on LED conversion, then please get in touch.
