Probably laying dark fibre

Ah - someone who can cast light on the matter.

probably not on roadworks site as strictly speaking its not legal.

e.g. I live on a main road and the council doesnt want to close the road, so instead I have witnessed workmen do things at illegal hours. Once severn trent turned up at 11pm in the evening, council denied all knowledge, and when I went out to remind them of the law they were packed up within 5 minutes.
Another occasion was a sunday morning, some workmen were patching up the road, they were what it looks like council workers, again council denied all knowledge, not on roadworks website either, after I reported it tho they were gone within 15 minutes.

In reply to a post by Chrysalis:

probably not on roadworks site as strictly speaking its not legal.

e.g. I live on a main road and the council doesnt want to close the road, so instead I have witnessed workmen do things at illegal hours. Once severn trent turned up at 11pm in the evening, council denied all knowledge, and when I went out to remind them of the law they were packed up within 5 minutes.
Another occasion was a sunday morning, some workmen were patching up the road, they were what it looks like council workers, again council denied all knowledge, not on roadworks website either, after I reported it tho they were gone within 15 minutes.

Although sometimes it is done because the council are being awkward and demanding high fees.

We had our pole demolished so no residential or business lines. BT wanted to re-instate the pole as quickly as possible ... the council demanded a minimum of 13 weeks notice for temporary lights and a fee of several hundred pound (or more). They arrived at 5:00 AM on a Saturday (it had been suggested to us) and had the new pole in place by 6:00 and drop wires by 7:00 just in time for me to deliver hot bacon butties.

I don't miss the hassle of the traffic lights - I'm just glad it's getting done ☺


I like the comment about the dark fibre!!

Nothing wrong with night works. Competent undertakers should liaise with the Highway Authority and District Environmental Health team regarding planned works. Emergency/urgent works are obviously just that.

In reference to www.gov.uk/government/publications/street-works-faq:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/street-wo...

Q3. What is the current position on undertakers carrying out street works at night?

Section 56 of the NRSWA allows an authority to direct an undertaker to carry out works at certain times, but only if they believe that the work is likely to cause serious traffic disruption. Authorities need to exercise discretion in the use of this power and cannot direct work to be done at specific times if this conflicts with restrictions on noise or other nuisance. It may be that works cause least disruption to traffic if they are carried out at night or weekends.

If you are concerned about noise you should contact your local authority environmental health or street works manager.

in both cases tho the environmental health team said no authorisation was given, they said they had no knowledge.

I don't think that matters. It would be an absolute nightmare if BT had to get authorisation from the council every time roadworks or traffic lights were required. I'm sure that's not how it works.

they probably would if was out of hours.

But I suppose it depends on noise levels, if they doing something like just swapping line cards in a cabinet no, but if roadworks then yes.

Edited by Chrysalis (Sat 01-Nov-14 14:20:54)

Every street is detailed on the National Streetworks Gazetteer. Streets may be noted as 'Traffic Sensitive'.

Those streets that are traffic sensitive may be listed as such during rush hour or during working hours or 24 hours.

If you do roadworks during Traffic Sensitive hours, you will need to buy a permit or buy a lane closure.

If you work outside of those hours and you are not digging up Her Majesty's land, you you are pretty much clear to work without notice. This may involve nights or weekends. I would have told Chrysalis to ' Jog On'

Edited by deleted (Sat 01-Nov-14 21:43:04)