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From the ADOT Archives: Replacing a bulb on I-15

From the ADOT Archives: Replacing a bulb on I-15

January 29, 2014

This photo was taken on I-15 in December 1978.

Acrophobia, also known as a fear of heights, apparently isn’t something the man in this photo suffers from…

Working to replace a light bulb, this (we assume) ADOT employee actually looks rather comfortable suspended several feet in the air.

The photo was taken in December 1978 and, according to our notes, was snapped on I-15 near the Cedar Pocket exit.

You might remember we recently featured a vehicle that looks very similar to the one in this picture. The modern bucket truck is used primarily by ADOT’s Signal and Lighting crews to repair and maintain traffic signals and lights – same as it was 35 years ago!

Nowadays, ADOT crews wear a full-body harness and hard hat before getting lifted (it’s difficult to tell from this photo if that was the case back then). Today’s crews also go out in twos when operating a bucket truck – one person operates an arrow board/attenuator truck (to warn traffic) and one will be in the bucket making repairs to the light or signal.

It’s safe to say things have changed since 1912 when the Arizona Highway Department was first established. But you don’t just have to take our word … we’ve got plenty of pictures to prove it. We combed through our archives and decided to periodically post these photos from the past in a blog series we’re calling, “From the ADOT Archives.”