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Could a swim to work scheme be established?
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or
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If Chis Rea lives in Fife he's going to be bloody pissed
He lives on the M62 just east of Pontefract.
Where's Simon & Garfunkel when you need them?
Yesterday they were shuttling the cyclists across in some of the bridge vehicles, I don't know if they will carry on with that though.
My missus who is qualified in such matters (bridge engineer)looked at the snaps and the schematic and said "haha sh1t that bits quite important, what a stupid design" So there you go.
Well that's reassuring...
It must have been an awful sight,
To witness in the dusky moonlight,
While the Storm Fiend did laugh, and angry with glee,
Along the Road Bridge of the A 90,
Oh! ill-fated Bridge near Dalgetty Bay,
I must now conclude my lay
By telling the world fearlessly without the least dismay,
That your central girders would not have given way,
At least many sensible men do say,
Had they been supported on each side with buttresses,
At least many sensible men confesses,
For the stronger we our houses do build,
The less chance we have of being killed.
[i]Donald McGonagall[/i]
Och a wee bit of Araldite and it will be right as rain
[i]My missus who is qualified in such matters (bridge engineer)looked at the snaps and the schematic and said "haha sh1t that bits quite important, what a stupid design" So there you go. [/i]
It's a shame they didn't have such a smart arse around 50 years ago when the bridge was being built 🙂
My missus who is qualified in such matters (bridge engineer)looked at the snaps and the schematic and said "haha sh1t that bits quite important, what a stupid design" So there you go.
She must be somewhat overly qualified then to be able to tell that from a few pics and a schematic on the news.
And if she's that bloody good she should be out designing bridges not flicking over to the news between Loose Women and Homes Under the Hammer.
They just need a really big roll of Duct tape...
She must be somewhat overly qualified then to be able to tell that from a few pics and a schematic on the news.
And if she's that bloody good she should be out designing bridges not flicking over to the news between Loose Women and Homes Under the Hammer.
Getting a bit nasty there.
I would guess that if she is a civil engineer that specializes in bridges she will probably know a bit about the design principle of such an iconic bridge.
[quote=footflaps ]They just need a really big roll of Duct tape...
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Its heading north
Northwind - Member
I know it's a big problem but I'm really looking forward to telling my boss, his head'll probably pop straight off.
So what happened, then? A festive shower of blood, gore and bits of skull?
He went very quiet. The special quiet you get just before someone picks up a letter opener and carves their way out of the office and into forensic history. Then he just left without telling anyone where he was going. So we'll probably find out what happened next in tomorrow's papers.
A strategic combo of train, Travelodge and working from home / out of the Glasgow office is going to be the order of the rest of the month. Luckily I'll get on the train before it gets too busy, going south, but coming home is going to be a bit of a pointy elbow fest. I pity those who will be trying to board at haymarket 😈
Many good memes here:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/scotland/12034033/Forth-Bridge-Closure-They-may-take-our-bridge-but-theyll-never-take-our-memes.html
could've been worse
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[url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-35014755 ]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-35014755[/url]
Could there be an upside? When there were tube strikes in London a few years ago, a bunch of people bought bikes and started to ride to work. When people's car commute is disrupted and their routine is broken, could there be a shift to public transportation and bikes?
^^^^ yeah, but the bridge goes over a river ....... 🙂
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I pity those who will be trying to board at haymarket
**** you 😈
Whoops
Turns out the Scottish government knew of problems with the Forth Road Bridge trusses back in 2010, but cancelled the works before they got underway:
http://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/show/search_view.aspx?ID=MAY077389
[i]Assessments of the suspended structure and the truss end connections have identified that several of the key elements forming these connections are overstressed.
A feasibility study has been undertaken and a preferred option identified to strengthen the existing truss end link connection.[/i]
😳
Old news that Ninfan; Amey have already confirmed that it's a different component of the truss ends that's failed. The contract you linked was cancelled in favour of reinforcement work which is ongoing but unconnected, apparently.
http://forthroadbridge-dev.blueprintwebtech.com/projects/capital-projects/truss-end-links/
There's been a bunch of other work done to reinforce the truss end packages over the last 10 years or so apparently but the bit that's failed wasn't considered highly stressed.
Work on those trusses was part of a list of maintenance work - there weren't "problems", they were recognised as components that would need work in future, along with a bunch of other parts.
And, as Northwind says, the part that actually broke wasn't the part that was going to be replaced anyway.
Is that Nazifan...Sorry Ninfan,trying to make it an SNP thing? What a belter!
This thread is a different take on the outcome..
https://trafficscotland.org/news/story.aspx?id=13233&Sort=StartDate&Direction=Descending&PS=10&PI=0
Update on the diversion.
No cycling or walking across the bridge either. Just in case you were wondering.
Bit of shooting themselves in the foot though closing it to cyclists and peds - they'll all just have to cram on the trains otherwise.. opportunity missed shirley ??
This has been circulating Facebook this week. Crack seems to be getting worse since closure
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=944806385600344&id=208916149189375
Bit of shooting themselves in the foot though closing it to cyclists and peds - they'll all just have to cram on the trains otherwise.. opportunity missed shirley ??
Dear lord, it's closed because it's an active worksite, not because they think that pedestrians and cyclists will cause a collapse. A perfectly sensible thing to do as the folks working to actually fix the bridge have better things to worry about than having to monitor and control cyclists and pedestrians.
Bit of shooting themselves in the foot though closing it to cyclists and peds - they'll all just have to cram on the trains otherwise.. opportunity missed shirley ??
Damaged bridge. Large amount of construction equipment requiring access. Significant over the side repair works. Live construction site with blasting, grinding, welding and probably heavy things swinging about on cranes. Yes, what they really need to add to that is a load of gawkers standing about trying to look at what they are doing.
From the limited photos the crack was full through anyway, it hasn't got worse. If the photos are from the same location all that's happened is they've moved with respect to each other, not that surprising with the wind loading that must have happened over the last week.
I don't think you can risk allowing peds and cyclists on, if it did start to fail then they wouldn't be able to get off quickly. I expect it'll be essential personnel only until fixed.
It was loaded up with gritter trucks earlier today to see how much effect load is having
it's close because it's an active worksite
Indeed. But they managed to keep it open to cyclists and peds a few years ago when they were working on the cables.
better things to worry about than having to monitor and control cyclists and pedestrians
The two cycle/ped lanes are entirely separate from the two main carriageways. Can't see how it would take much in the way of active monitoring.
Ultimately it is their site so it is obviously their call - I just hope they've given it [i]proper[/i] consideration as anything that can be done to remove cars from the queues would help.
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not because they think that pedestrians and cyclists will cause a collapse
I didn't make that assertion. Others may have. It was related to the traffic management issues, which seems to be affecting many regions of Scotland - i.e. drawing carriages from the under-used (yeah right) lines across the country.
Edit - commenting as a detached observer. It really doesn't matter to me - any more - how traffic crosses the FRB on a purely personal, selfish level. Bit like GrahamS, scotroutes and others I suspect 🙂
Ultimately it is their site so it is obviously their call - I just hope they've given it proper consideration as anything that can be done to remove cars from the queues would help.
I've got be honest if I were the engineer who had to make the decision between a tiny incremental delay for some people and getting the work done quicker and easier I wouldn't have to think for very long.
It really doesn't matter to me - any more - how traffic crosses the FRB on a purely personal, selfish level. Bit like GrahamS, scotroutes and others I suspect
Yep, thankfully it is no longer my commute but I do know it is causing chaos at the main office, given that at least half the staff stay south of the bridge and the office is north of it.
Several of them regularly cycle across so they would be fine if the cycle lanes were open. Without them it is a 15-20 mile detour each way.
The FRB staff cited "Safety First", but if they think cycling an extra 30 odd miles on major roads amongst angry frustrated gridlocked traffic is safer than crossing the bridge with a few workers on it then it must be in a really bad way 😀
It's not my commute but I still have an interest in anything that would reduce congestion on the various other routes north and south of the Central Belt.
To be fair it would be incredibly easy to keep cyclists and predestrians away from the worksite. It may however have something to do with lower and different types of safety barriers on the other options that cyclists and pedestrians could use.