Repaired floodlights to brighten up Footes Lane
USERS and spectators at Footes Lane will be de-lighted to hear the sports site’s floodlight system is fully operational once again.
Technicians from Essex-based floodlighting company Christy Floodlighting have been at the Lane this week ensuring the light does not fade for a moment longer on 32 floodlights situated around the running track and stand.
The lights have not worked at full capacity for months, with a circuit trip likely to have caused an outage back in November.
The team from Christy began work on Tuesday, and are due to finish by the weekend.
Their work has primarily involved replacing 16 control gears which drive the 32 lights.
‘The gears are about eight years old, so they’ve reached the end of their life,’ Christy workshop manager Eddie Tabor said.
They have not been able to make light work of the job, with Mr Tabor saying it had been one of the most challenging pieces of work he had been involved in due to the height of some of the floodlights, coupled with this week’s inclement weather conditions.
‘Battling against the wind and rain was not easy, Wednesday in particular was brutal, but we’ve got the hardest bits out of the way,’ he said.
‘We’ve used a cherry picker to get at some of the lights, and for the higher ones we’ve got our own raised system that we use.’
The old lights, which were 400 watts, have been replaced by 1,200-watt bulbs, while Mr Tabor said the new control gears were smaller and more robust.
‘It’s the way the technology has evolved, and the other benefit is that it’s all cheaper to run as it’s far more efficient.’
