The following photographs were taken on Saturday, 2nd October 2010; over a year before the new section of lights installed on the bridge over the A38 appeared.
Several remotely geared Thorn Alpha 4 135 Watt SOX lanterns were installed on the approach to the University.
One of the rear clips on this Alpha 4 was not correctly secured. This caused the rear section of the bowl to sag, allowing dirt to enter the lamp area.
Both the outgoing and new columns are 10 m in height.
The bowl on this Alpha 4 was correctly secured.
An integrally-geared Alpha 4 was next - the difference between this version and the remotely-geared lantern is the large gear shoe located behind the lamp area.
The oxide coating on this lantern's lamp was particularly visible.
The columns pictured above date from when Kedleston Road was realigned in order to accommodate the construction of the A38 in the late 1970s/early 1980s. The old alignment rejoins the 'new' at this point - the difference in column design is evidence of this. These columns were over 40 years old by the time that they were removed. Originally, they would have supported twin-lamp Atlas Alpha 8 fittings. The Alpha 4 that was later fitted to this column ended its days by also suffering from bowl securing problems - two lengths of grey insulation tape held it in place, following the presumed failure of the clips.
A Philips MA 50 attached to a very long outreach bracket was located opposite this column. The long outreach is provided due to the additional width of the carriageway at this point, as a result of the bus stop lay-by.
The MA 50 was fitted with a Royce Thompson SC1000 photocell.
Moving to the Birchover Way junction, and another ex-Alpha 8 column could be seen.
The new Iridium lanterns are of the 'large' (SGS 254) size, and run SON lamps.
Notice the twin-door arrangement of the old column - more evidence to prove that the column once catered for two separate gear circuits.
Spigot reducers were fitted to all of the outgoing brackets, owing to the Alpha 8s requiring larger spigots than the Alpha 4s did.
"I would help you light the street, but I'm a little rusty..."
With the Service Road now running parallel with the main road, another Alpha 4 could be seen. This example was fitted to a slightly newer column.
Having not yet been powered up, the new Iridium was drenched in dew - had the lantern been in use overnight, the heat generated from the lamp and gear would have been sufficient to have prevented the dew from forming.
Another MA 50 was next - this was also fitted to an "old" column; however, this installation only featured a single door.
The grub screws holding the spigot reducer in place are clearly visible here:
This was followed by another double-doored example:
The Alpha 4's canopy looked as if the lantern had seen many years' service:
The new column in this vicinity was installed on the opposite side of the road, adjacent the entrance to a footpath. The Philips MI 26 fitted to a mid-hinged column was not due to be replaced as part of this scheme.
The SON lamp (probably 150 Watt) was visible within the the optic:
A final 10 m column supporting an Alpha 4 was installed opposite the very wide Allestree Lane junction.
A panoramic view of the junction reveals its substantial width:
