Concrete Utilities
Concrete Utilities was one of the competitors in the concrete market about 40-50 years ago. They made columns, brackets and other, non-street light items such as bollards and sheds.
The illustrations on this page show the gradual change from the bulky but often elegant designs to the slim shapes of the 1960's, largely made possible by the reduction in the size of lamp control gear. The first concrete lighting column manufactured in this country, probably in Europe, was the 15' mounting height Liverpool No. 1. Many others of this type too numerous to name followed, and in 1936 came the first of the successful Avenue series, the Avenue 4D, culminating in the introduction of the first narrow base design, the Avenue 3DNN. These, particularly the latter, were very popular designs in some areas. The development in the 1950's of the Highway, the Highway 'X' and the Byway 'X', provided a complete modern matching range. The Byway 'X' had been said to express the ultimate in concrete column design, and the inclusion of two of these columns in the C.o.I.D. South Bank permanent street furniture exhibition speaks for itself.
The evolution of bracket design is not without significance and these are as elegant as their respective shafts. The most recent brackets were the Arc 4, shown in conjunction with the Byway 'X', and the Highway series, which are available for 25ft and 30ft. Tubular steel brackets for all mounting heights are a recent introduction, although they are not shown for Group 'B' and Group 'A'.
This is not the definitive CU column and bracket catalogue - there are other examples that have not been included here.
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| 1. Liverpool No. 1 (1934) | 2. Fluted (1935) | 3 - 6. Avenue 4D (1937) | 4. | 5. | 6. | 7. Avenue 2D (1938) |
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| 8. Avenue 3D, Arc 1 bracket (1938) | 9. Special design, Southampton Civic Centre (1938) | 10. Utility Major (1938) | 11. Avenue 3D, Arc 2 bracket (1940) | 12. Avenue 2D, Arc 2 bracket (1941) | 13. Avenue 3DNN, Arc 3 bracket (1948) | 14. Highfield Minor special design for Liverpool (1948) |
| Example | Example 1 | 2 | 3 | |||||
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| 15. Estate Minor 'X' (1950) | 16. Highway (1952) | 17. Byway (1954) | 18. Estate Minor, Arc 3 bracket (1955) | 19. Highway 'X' S.B. | 20. Byway 'X', Arc 4 bracket (1961) | 21. New Highway (1963) |
| Example 1 | 2 | Example 1 | 2 | Example |
© 2002-2008 Mike Barford