Darn thieves!

[Cory]

Marking them is another possibility they're looking at.

There are no cameras near this location. It is in a remote location.

[Cory]

4" x 8" x 1/8" thick. A box of 125 weighs slightly over 80 lbs with reflective tape. Don't know how much they weigh without the tape.

One can only suspect why they're being stolen.

[RicodJour]

Cheap way to start a subway.

R

[gfretwell]

It may just be your state but the traffic cameras here (Florida) are used for gauging traffic flow, spotting accidents, dispatching emergency crews and updating the traffic status signs along the road. When people started the big brother complaints they actually showed the feed from the cameras. You can see what kind of vehicle is but you can't read the tag. I understand they make some very high resolution cameras (like the red light cameras) but the ones along the road are usually not that good. It is probably a bandwidth issue

[HeyBub]

Excellent points. I take it, then, that the guard rails are also made of Aluminum for exactly the same reasons?

[Cory]

No, the rails are galvanized.

[Evan]

Guard rails are two to three times THICKER than a traffic sign and are designed to be structural components that take load and deflect a wayward vehicle... There is MUCH more of a guard rail to rust away which is why they last longer -- they do rust though...

~~ Evan

[Larry W]

In my town the T-section posts that are used to hold street signs are made of painted steel. They seem to last indefinitely, at least 20 or 30 years, even though they are set directly in concrete. How in the world do they ever last so long without being made of aluminum?

[Oren]

Classic!

[Cory]

Speaking from experience? Sorry, you left yourself open for that one.

[Harry K]

Yep, I was going to mention that but figured someone else would? :) As to galvanised not lasting? Seems the aluminum doesn't either except in scrap yards :).

Harry K

[clare]

The guard rail they are fastening it to is hot dip galvanized STEEL. Why not the reflector?

[T. Keating]

Presuming you have some extra thread left over or use slightly longer lag bolts. Purchase or have specially made, some reverse threaded

7/16" nuts.

Install reflector using normal lag bolt, washer and nut. Then install second reverse threaded nut after first.

When two nuts.. meet.. Tack weld them together.. No mater which way they turn the double nut assembly it won't move.

To remove, grind off tack weld, back off each nut appropriately. Lag threads will remain intact and undamaged. .

[Larry W]

Not that funny.

[HeyBub]

Here's the fix:

Obviously the use of bolted-on Aluminum is the result of a political decision. Steel would be cheaper and (obviously) last longer.

Without question the Aluminum-post-provider is a relative of the highway purchasing agent.

So, then, the fix is to approach the supplier and convince him to promote steel posts to his brother-in-law. He can sell them for more on than the current Aluminum post for the reason that they won't be stolen!

I know the whole idea is spooky, but that's the way the world works.

[Edward Reid]

Problem is, the ones who should not be driving, hurt and kill the others.

Besides, very few humans are good at driving. Our roads are designed around our flaws, but we still crash. We accept the risk for the benefits. That doesn't mean we shouldn't try to reduce the risks.

Edward

[HeyBub]

1. That's all they had.
2. The screw supplier is related to the highway department's purchasing agent.
3. To a man with a wrench, every problem can be solved with a screw.

[Harry K]

Any man will select a screw if one is available.

Harry K

[krw]

It's not men who do the selection.

[aemeijers]

(snip)

You must live in a real rich area, then. The state I am in, Michigan, and the state I am from and still spend time in, Indiana, are flat broke. They can barely afford salt, or patching potholes, or an engineer to see the relationship between those two activities. I doubt five percent of the road miles in this state have cameras. And I KNOW there are no state-owned fiber trunks down the main roads.

Only area near here I am aware of that has a California-style traffic monitoring system is metro Chicago. In MI, a few cities have 'problem stretches' with cameras, but only in those problem areas, which are primarily badly-designed highways where big trucks keep falling off the curves in icy weather.

And yes, I HAVE seen what a fancy camera in a ball on a pole can do. The place I work has about 30 of them. including around the perimeter and on the high points of the building.