Pavement symbols decrypted

Unusual markings, logos and symbols around the city
Loiner in Cyprus
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Joined: Thu 08 Nov, 2007 3:04 pm

Re: Pavement symbols decrypted

Post by Loiner in Cyprus »

tilly wrote:Hi Leodian i for one look forward to your posts i am sure i am not the only one.Your input is of great value keep up the good work.
I totally agree. Keep on posting Leodian.

jma
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Joined: Fri 05 Aug, 2016 3:38 pm

Re: Pavement symbols decrypted

Post by jma »

There must be some info somewhere setting some standards for the marks statutory undertakers paint on the road. I've worked out that blue is used for water pipes and equipment but there must be something with agreed standards because they are used to inform people digging up the road about what's underneath, to minimise the risk of a JCB inadvertently doing a lot of damage in an increasingly crowded underground infrastructure.

I've just come across this, which is a short guide to the developments in tracing and recording it all it's in PDF format of 5 pages.

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... assets.pdf
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After I'd written that, it gave me some ideas for googling. Wikipedia says there's no definite set of standards in the UK. Just muddling along, I suppose, situation normal.
The United Kingdom uses a convention similar to the US one, for marking underground utilities, such as telephone, gas, water and electricity. The system is based entirely on convention without any written standard. These markings are color-coded, and are painted by contractors onto the pavement.[11]

The main colors based on the convention are used in the same way as in the US: red for electricity; yellow for gas; blue for water. However, other colors have other meanings. Green is used for telecommunication conduits. White is used as general communication between contractors. It is also used to note the details of road surface markings so that markings can be easily restored after the road construction is completed. A few telecommunication companies also use white color for their utility locations. Orange and other colors are used by local authorities to mark improvements and other details not related to utility locations.[11]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utility_l ... ed_Kingdom

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Leodian
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Re: Pavement symbols decrypted

Post by Leodian »

Thanks jma for those links :).

The vast number of carved markings on pavement edges in at least the centre of Leeds is amazing (well it is to me ;) ). They consist of numbers, arrows, etc. All those I've noticed are well worn, so have likely been there many years even accounting for erosion from people walking on and over pavement edges. Though they are commonly seen (if looked for!) I know that parts of Duncan Street and Park Row have plenty of examples (some kerb stones on Park Row look as if they could be granite with feldspar crystals, though if granite that would be an expensive stone to have used so probably not). Presumably colour coding has taken over from the carved symbols.
Last edited by Leodian on Mon 26 Sep, 2016 7:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.
A rainbow is a ribbon that Nature puts on when she washes her hair.

jma
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Re: Pavement symbols decrypted

Post by jma »

Formerly there were only so many underground "assets" as they now seem to be called. Not so long ago, all there can have been under the streets were water mains, drains and sewers, nearly all municipally owned under road surfaces maintained by the highway authority, in our case Leeds City Council. In that fairly stable situation I can see how permanent signs on the surface came into use.

More and more was crammed in there, and some of it was the responsibility of regional or national public utilities. The Public Utilities Street Works Act 1950 was enacted to deal with this but the local highway authority remained in overall charge. They employed "PUSWA" inspectors who went round, well, inspecting and they sprayed the once-familiar corner marks on the bits that needed reinstatement after being dug up.

Privatisation of utilities and the introduction of cable TV etc with digging up just about every street in the land, led to the enactment of the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991, which gave "statutory undertakers" new rights underground and empowered them to do their own reinstatement. Whatever the benefits, there were some problems such as roads being nicely resurfaced and contractors arriving to dig them up before the tarmac had set. There's also been the perennial problem of the JCB digging down and biting off more than it was supposed to chew. There was a telly ad intended to reassure us that there was some sort of co-ordination of all the digging which ended with a traditional undertaker looking as though he too might make use of an excavation.

The paintmarks are, of course, short term and they eventually wash off. The fact that a whole street may be surveyed using the methods described in my link suggests to me that over the years, we've rather lost track of what's down there. The reason I'm surprised that there seems to be no definitive set of rules for the markings used suggests to me - as a complete layman - that there's the possibility of confusion. Instead of it all being done by local authority people who might easily have stayed in the same city for their entire working life, specialist contractors in one type of utility might work anywhere, deciphering the marks left by others.

A couple of years ago, the whole of Finkle Lane in Gildersome was surveyed and colourfully marked like this prior to a new electricity cable being laid. I rather enjoyed looking down at everything when the road was dug up and I used to show my grandchildren so I didn't look quite so daft. "There's a hole and we are looking into it." :oops:

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Leodian
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Re: Pavement symbols decrypted

Post by Leodian »

Cheers again jma for your help and information which is appreciated :).
A rainbow is a ribbon that Nature puts on when she washes her hair.

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