Forth Road bridge

boxerscott · Post by **boxerscott** » Fri Dec 04, 2015 11:19 pm

Major test for the Scottish Government. let us see how committed they are to getting the country's communication fit for the future.

My guess... Chinese bridge builders, Chinese money and Tolls for life.

Come on SNP, bring it on, let`s see what you are made of and how quick our nations industry can start moving again??

same fate for Humber bridge?

Blackal · Post by **Blackal** » Sat Dec 05, 2015 7:05 am

Was it not an SNP Scottish government who pushed for the replacement crossing?

And - abolished the Skye bridge tolls?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/4112085.stm

And - abolished the Forth Road Bridge tolls?

And - abolished the Tay Road Bridge tolls?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/7235131.stm

I'm sure that restoring normal service will be an absolute priority, but it was interesting to hear the Scottish Transport Minister getting a "grilling" on Radio Scotland yesterday. A lot of stupid questions which were merely stating the bleeding obvious.

He should have answered: "Listen - if the bridge collapsed, who would you blame? Well - don't second-guess those same peoples' decision to carry out the repairs!"

As for the inability to steer steel procurement to Scottish or even British steel production plants - I guess National and European legislation is at the root of that.

Al

boxerscott · Post by **boxerscott** » Sat Dec 05, 2015 4:49 pm

It will be some repair job. It is of national importance. Priority for the Scottish Government as a whole.

11 mile queue today. I suspect the weather that is hammering us mercilessly has something to do with that.

John Coles · Post by **John Coles** » Tue Dec 08, 2015 3:03 pm

Think an enterprising ferryman might clean up here for a few years ... anyone with a spare boat?

boxerscott · Post by **boxerscott** » Wed Dec 09, 2015 10:10 pm

Notice that we have had a technical appraisal presentation from Mrs S. telling us what the problem is but no explanation why it has happened and why routine maintenance and inspections have not identified this problem earlier?

Surely, shearing of steel members does not happen overnight? Who signs these structures off... Stevie Wonder?

Blackal · Post by **Blackal** » Wed Dec 09, 2015 10:24 pm

It can, in fact - happen overnight................

Crack propagation, even in tough steel (as opposed to brittle steel) can have frightening velocities.

Not sure if the Scottish Gov't had much of a say in the maintenance or deferment - time will tell.

Al

bikemad99 · Post by **bikemad99** » Wed Dec 09, 2015 10:52 pm

Well done Chris,not content with running World motorcycle racing,you are now chief advisor to the Scottish government.Any chance of moving on to World peace?
Merry Christmas to you both from Reg & Gwen.

boxerscott · Post by **boxerscott** » Thu Dec 10, 2015 12:41 am

bikemad99 wrote:Well done Chris,not content with running World motorcycle racing,you are now chief advisor to the Scottish government.Any chance of moving on to World peace?
Merry Christmas to you both from Reg & Gwen.

That would be boring Reg, I am not a tree hugger

slparry · Post by **slparry** » Thu Dec 10, 2015 8:33 am

There was a programme on TV a few months back where they showed several listening devices on the bridge attached to monitors and you could see a the wave form and hear the pings of the individual strands of the steel cable snapping ..... it was a bit scary.

However, I did wonder why can't they just replace the cable, perhaps running in parallel to do so, surely it has to be possible?

Corvus · Post by **Corvus** » Thu Dec 10, 2015 9:18 am

slparry wrote:There was a programme on TV a few months back where they showed several listening devices on the bridge attached to monitors and you could see a the wave form and hear the pings of the individual strands of the steel cable snapping ..... it was a bit scary.

However, I did wonder why can't they just replace the cable, perhaps running in parallel to do so, surely it has to be possible?

I think that was a previous problem. This one, I think, is as blackal has suggested by looks o things? Whether the two problems are coincidental in time......

boxerscott · Post by **boxerscott** » Tue Dec 15, 2015 9:08 pm

This topic is now contentious at Holyrood. There appears to be uncertainty about the Bridges future, wether to dismantle or leave for "emergencies". There are reports that Government were made aware of the fragile integrity of the current defect 5 years ago.

I suspect the costs of dismantling are huge, therefore doing nothing seems the cost effective solution. It is costing Industry a small fortune and making life a misery for those travelling to the lothians for work.

The SNP propose to show plenty of repeats of Braveheart over the festive season to keep morale high up here

dave the german · Post by **dave the german** » Wed Dec 16, 2015 5:33 am

There was a bunch of guys on the telly who dismantled the Middlesborough Transporter bridge - maybe they could help?

slparry · Post by **slparry** » Wed Dec 16, 2015 7:29 am

dave the german wrote:There was a bunch of guys on the telly who dismantled the Middlesborough Transporter bridge - maybe they could help?

Sadly I have two cousins who singlehandedly were responsible for this

http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/nostalg ... ia-3408566

My Uncle had an absolute cow on them, however I'm sure they'd be offer their services to bridge removals if needed