From our latest U.K. member, TrimixLeccy:


Mod. note: "Central reservation" = median strip.










[This message has been edited by pauluk (edited 02-06-2007).]

As far as I can ascertain a lighting column was removed and the cable extended as per pic1. This cable then connects to the column and then goes back down inside the column and onto the next fixture. I will not reveal the location yet so that users can try to guess the locale.

Is this somewhere in the Middle East? There's some palms and script on the awning in the background.

awning???

The awning is in the middle picture, visible (with some tweaking) just to the upper right of the access cover, below the two lights. It does look like Arabic.

What's that??? 4mm2 SWA? Or even bigger?

Guess #1. Birmingham, England. Off the M6.
I can't see an awning or any arabic, but if there is, it's probably the local Balti Hut!

4mm? yeah, right!!! If memory serves me correctly it is about 25 or 35mm may even be 50mm! I aint getting hold of it to check though!!! NOTE the lack of fuses as well! I will be check it again next time I am there.

Ok, that explains a lot...
I couldn't really judge the diameter of the pole from the picture, so it was hard to guess. Explains why the wires inside the light looks so small though

This lamp column has fascinated me for about 2 years [yes, i know I need to get out more!!] Apart from no visible fuses it also has no isolation at ground level, I think the earthing is discontinuous and the 2 lamp heads are on different phases. Oh, I forgot to mention that this 'median strip' also doubles as a public footpath!!!
I will be back there in a few weeks; camera at the ready

One thing I'm surprised nobody else has commented on yet:

The open splice on the ground clearly has red/yellow/blue phases on both cables, but the cable running up the outside of the lamp post appears to be older, with a white B-phase.

So is there another open splice somewhere between these two photos?

Optical illusion. Probably the flash from the camera has 'flared out' the yellow colouring. I can say this without fear of being wrong! How does he know this 'for a fact', you may well ask? Because it runs on the surface along the 'median' for a distance of about 4 metres!!!...and you can trip over the entire length of it and take a dive into the oncoming traffic. The traffic here only has one speed and I don't mean that in a good way.

Looks like five electrical contractors had a go at this, judging by all the different colours of insulating tape...

I don't think an Electrical Contractor has been near it! [apart from me with my camera, and I wasn't getting too close!!]

Hi there Trimix,
Welcome to the group!.
This looks really bad IMO, a live 400+V cable with no protection and it also looks like there is nothing holding those cable joints together apart from the twists of the copper strands of the wires.
What I can't work out, is why there is a mid-span joint in the run between posts?.
Street-lighting conductors here in NZ measure anything from 10mm up to 35mm copper, above that Aluminium conductors would be used.
Regarding the fusing, a lot of street-lighting circuits I've come across aren't actually fused at each pole, there may be a fuse up at the actual fitting itself, but the distribution side of the circuit is usually only fused at the originating end (or in some cases, the circuit may be one large ring-circuit).
Has anyone been notified of this shambles?.
Regardless of who did this in the first place, this constitutes a real public safety hazard!.

[This message has been edited by Trumpy (edited 02-09-2007).]

One other thing,
As Ragnar pointed out, that is NOT SWA cable,
it looks like a cable that has a plastic filler in the cable, it sort of looks to me like some sort of XLPE cable.
If it was SWA, there would have to be clamps and links between the seperate sections of the cable run, with repect to continuing the earthing/bonding.
Why this cable hasn't been installed correctly and hasn't been joined correctly, is anyones guess.
I would be ashamed of anything like that in my PoCo area, hence my dismay that this has been like this for so long.
I would sack an employee on the spot if they did this sort of "work".

I thought the second and third picture show the armor of SWA hanging down... however, I've never seen SWA in real life, so it's hard to judge.

You're right saying to do it RIGHT the armor would have to be connected, but look, is there anything in those pictures that has actually been done right? I.e. do you actually think those hacks would have cared about grounding?

Ah, O.K. It really looks as though they're white in that photo.

It kind of looks that way, although the armor in SWA consists of steel strands spiral wrapped around the cable. This stuff looks more like tangled braid, as you'd find on some coaxial (R.F.) cables.

Maybe it's the optical effect again, making plastic strands appear to be metallic.

Here's British SWA in close-up:




[This message has been edited by pauluk (edited 02-10-2007).]

I wondered if it looked a bit like black steel tubing with singles in. The plastic looks rather like a poor attempt at waterproofing. It just all looks rather straight for cable.

I have never seen cable with so much plastic filler so it does make me wonder. The braiding at the other end does look unusual, a bit like SY flex cable. but that usually has a clear jacket.

Texas, if you want some SWA, PM me and I can send you some.

If I had to make a wild guess,,,,

In the first pic, the lower cable looks like American "SO," a heavy duty rubber jacketed extension-cord type material. Such cors often have stringy plastic filaments used for filler material.

The top appears to be ordinary black irrigation tubing, used as 'conduit,' and all that shiny stuff is clear silicone caulk used to seal the end.

American products? Irrigation tube? Arabic? Israel comes to mind...

Pretty certain that it is not conduit and singles. I am there again at the end of March so I will have a look / touch.

As for the location? close, but no cigar {yet}

black, red, blue and white SO cord without a green wouldn't be an easy find here in the states....

maybe some good ole' American engineering in Iraq?

I have some bad news...the repair has gone!!! That is not to say that it has been done correctly, it is just not there any more. The offending item was on the 'median' on Peace Road in Hurghada, Egypt. The area has been totally redevolped within the last 12 months. The median has now gone along with one carriageway. The complete area has been covered with marble and blockpaving to create a new pedestrian precinct.
However, I have a nice pic of a hook-up point on the Marina. We passed this every day on our way to the Dive Boat and it was only on the last day that I remembered the camera.