[Closed] South bound lane of forth road bridge closed due to a defect

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.

I have to say that this side of the city is really quiet during peak times just now.

one lane open for bikes and pedestrians...secure bike storage compound on South side with rapid bus transport link into the city centre.

Luckily this has resulted in a considerable shortening of my time spent at/getting to work.

Bonus.

Wow it's amazing how many bridge experts there are on here!

Not sure you need to be a "bridge expert" to directly quote the bridge experts:

[img] [/img]

-- https://twitter.com/forthroadbridge/status/673475752029999104

http://forthroadbridgestatus.com/

Cost me about 45 minutes extra heading up to Aberdeen last night, going via Stirling. Not too bad I suppose, especially given one guy I was talking too told me his commute into Edinburgh from Kinghorn was now taking 3 hours each way.

Impressive tests;

[img] [/img]

I done this:

[img] [/img]

Wot GrahamS actually did:

[img] [/img]

Who knew it changed colour when you put a load on it?

that's excellent engineering - colour response to load changes!

Is it not working Mr C? I can see it.

Try the link instead: http://postimg.org/image/cbpnr5hab/

Photoelastic measurement in action. Awesome!

[quote=GrahamS ]Is it not working Mr C? I can see it.
Try the link instead: http://postimg.org/image/cbpnr5hab/
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Doesn't show for me either, but the link works

Hmm I guess postimg don't like direct hotlinks to large animated GIFs.

Fair enough I suppose.

[img] ?width=500&height=281.25[/img]

In the week since the Forth Road Bridge closed, Amey’s team of engineers have been working around the clock to develop a solution to a crack on one of the bridge’s truss end links.

The detailed plans to fix the problem have now been finalised, checked and verified by two independent specialist engineering firms.

The repair solution involves a plate welded repair to the damaged truss end link and jacking the link into position.

An access platform to allow repair works to get underway is being constructed. The platform will permit teams of welders to work day and night, when weather conditions permit.

Chartered Engineer Mark Arndt, Amey's Account Director responsible for the bridge said:

“Our teams have been working 24/7 since the defect was identified a little over a week ago. Our design teams have finalised the detailed solution plan, the access platform is under construction and we’ve mobilised all the resources we need to begin the repair works.

“Progress of the repair work is vulnerable to weather conditions. Wind speeds at times make it unsafe for our people to continue but by having our personnel on standby at the bridge and by monitoring live wind-speed data in our control room we’re able to get straight back out to work on the repairs in every available window and our programme remains on schedule for completion in the New Year.”

In addition to repairing the defect, Amey is taking preventative action on another seven similar locations on the bridge to prevent any issues from occuring and structural monitoring systems are also being installed at these locations.

Transport Minister, Derek Mackay said:

“Our priority is to get the Forth Road Bridge operating as soon as possible and our engineers are doing all they can to make that possible.

“They are working tirelessly on designs for the repair and are putting the equipment they need in place so that it can be completed in good time.

“It is difficult and technical work and the team is to be commended on its commitment to getting the job completed despite the weather conditions.”

[url= http://www.forthroadbridge.org/news/solution-design-work-now-complete/ ]http://www.forthroadbridge.org/news/solution-design-work-now-complete/[/url]

Apparently they've had a team of crack engineers working on it 🙂

^^ 😆 😆

Reopening tomorrow, two weeks early. So the papers will be full of "well done SNP" stories, right? 😀

Very good work by the engineers, though. Solution designed, fabricated and fitted in an amazingly short time.

Apparently it was all done by immigrants, forecasts for using UK workers has completion in 2037

Very good work by the engineers, though. Solution designed, fabricated and fitted in an amazingly short time.

Well spun by the gov I reckon. Closed indefinitely initially until repair, then post Xmas, then opening again on 4th Jan before today's announcement. Better to bring the date forward than postpone it. Took the initial flak knowing it wasn't as bad as they were making out? Wonder when HGVs will be allowed back on though?

Well done to the guys that fixed it though - decent-ish weather probably helped a bit.

Remaining [b]inspections[/b] will continue until early January and can be safely completed with the bridge open.

Any more repairs however...

Good news, as I'm driving back to Edinburgh from Aberdeen tomorrow!

Someone taught the 'under promise, over deliver' mantra well.

[quote=matt_outandabout ]

Remaining inspections will continue until early January and can be safely completed with the bridge open.

Splints continue to be installed at the other seven truss end links as a precautionary measure but officials said it could be safely completed with the bridge open.

There was already other ongoing maintenance scheduled, some of which they were going to bring forward to reduce the number of closures/delays next year.

Seems like they've been pretty fortunate with the weather (that the rest of us have been cursing an unseasonal)

*curses himself for not reading more thoroughly*

It does beg the question that why can they do future repairs with bridge open, yet not allow cyclists on the far side the last couple of weeks?

Because they were accessing ALL of the bridge in order to do the bridge inspections?

Because they were going to be doing load testing that would need to be scheduled short-term as repairs progressed?

Because any proposed opening/closing of cycle access would be dependant on how well the repairs were progressing and whether or not they had to be working on the other seven truss end links simultaneously?

I don't understand all this chat about the government fixing the bridge, surely 99.999999999% of the work to fix it was done by the engineers and not politicians?

Apparently the government have also taken the credit for the decrease in the global car theft rate 😯

I heard they were doing a ton of other maintenance stuff while it was closed, painting etc, fixing the railings. Some joined up thinking there !

Well done Transport Scotland - don't credit smooth faced SNP Ministers for this one, it was the civil service what done this. Or the massive company they contract out to...

Well done Transport Scotland - don't credit smooth faced SNP Ministers for this one, it was the civil service what done this. Or the massive company they contract out to...

That's what I was thinking, it all seems a bit north Korea with our glorious leader being credited, rather than the amey engineers and their contractors who actually did it in reality

Well, I was kidding, since there were a lot of people quick to blame the SNP for the bridge being closed, I was wondering if the same people would be just as quick to praise them for it reopening early.

In reality, it was an engineering problem and an engineering solution, with politicians responsible for neither.

[quote=hels ]don't credit smooth faced SNP Ministers for this one,

[quote=bigjim ] it all seems a bit north Korea with our glorious leader being creditedWhere?

Transport Minister Derek Mackay said: "I am pleased that we are now able to reopen the bridge to 90% of traffic, well ahead of schedule.
"Following rigorous testing and inspection of the temporary repair, experts have recommended the bridge is now ready to open to all traffic except HGVs.
"With the temporary solution now in place, the remaining work to install the long-term repair can safely proceed without the need for a full closure.
"The repairs will be carried out with overnight lane restrictions on the bridge.
"For the complex and detailed interim repair to have been completed in this timeframe is a tribute to the highly skilled and dedicated staff who have worked 24/7.

I heard they were doing a ton of other maintenance stuff while it was closed, painting etc, fixing the railings. Some joined up thinking there !

Well, well for all you guys that have suffered i think it's worth a Yay! Which means I hope you all enjoy the trip over it even more.

Must have been a proper shite journey in and around the area..

damned if you do and damned if you don't springs to mind.
Who'd be a politician eh? of any persuasion or hue?

I'd rather be a FRB engineer / welder 🙂

It's great news. It means I can now go home, instead of bunking in my sister's spare room. Glad to have had that option though, the daily 4 hour round commute would've been grim.

damned if you do and damned if you don't springs to mind.

Indeed. If you're a supporter of the government then you're going to suggest they weren't at fault for causing the issue, but were to be credited with fixing it. If you're a hater then the opposite will apply.

The government neither broke it nor repaired it.

Glad my idea of just welding a plate over it has been taken on 😉 (It's what they always do! Now just need to monitor the welds.)

Very good work by the engineers, though. Solution designed, fabricated and fitted in an amazingly short time.

I suspect that they already had all their resources committed for rail repair contracts over the holidays, otherwise the lads would be pretty gutted at losing out on the overtime they could have earned spinning the bridge repair out over Christmas and New Year 😀

Where?

Loads of general chat and bickering on Facebook on the forth bridge news items. It's pretty weird

I'm looking forward to getting at least a couple of hours of my day back although I was quite getting into the walk through Edinburgh twice a day.
I'm struggling to see the logic of opening it to buses though - if it can't take the weight, then they should be re-routed too - there'll be enough capacity on the trains now.

I guess i owe my dad a very big [i]you were right[/i] t'morn then apology, he's a fully coded welder used to working on pharma, gas, oil and occasionally nuclear plants as he said [i]give me a few hours with a welder, profiiled plating and i'll have that bridge open within a day allowing for x-ray examination[/i], damn….I hate it when he's right……as he usually is 99.5% of the time.

Oh well……..big shoes to fill and all that…….bummer!

(secretly i'm really chuffed as his welds on stainless pharma tubing that no-one ever pays attention to could be described as art)