A new ferry across the Thames?

[Daydream believer]

Maybe the lack of a war for so long ruined this country. The ingenuity and can do spirit is almost entirely missing now. We'd have jumped on it and got it sorted in those days. We're like rabbits in the headlights over everything now

I remember floods in the Scottish borders & many bridges washed away. Within weeks bailey bridges sprang up all over the place. One in particular ( Canties bridge) was still there 30 years later on a fairly major route . The thing used to rattle like hell when one drove over it It was a revelation when they finally decided to build a new one.

 

[Daydream believer]

Except for when rogue operators have said authorities firmly in their pocket

E.g. Grenfell.

Is there any proof of that?

 

[oldgit]

While not wishing to unsettle the Conspiricy Theory Tendency who appear to roam wild and free at the moment.....
For those of us with actual boats and who also actually use them..................
To go under the bridge all one needs to do is to go online, fill in a simple form and indicate when you wish to go under the bridge .
The cruel nepotistic oppressors of right thinking people, would like 72 hours notice at the moment.

One might like to reflect that the bridges across the Thames were not publically funded and charged tolls in the correct capitalist manner, it was only later when they were taken into public ownership.

Home - The Rochester Bridge Trust

 

[Daydream believer]

A couple of ladders and a couple of non english speaking types in a rowing boat with a bunch of flowers in a bucket, could just set up shop ferrying people across & no one would stop them. ( well who stops flower sellers at traffic lights?) . Before you know it there would be a dozen of them rowing back & forth for all it was worth. Police would just roll their eyes to the sky & give up. The LA could do nothing on the grounds of human rights. & the local Inman would throw a fit if anyone tried to complain. Let's face it- Who would complain if it saved them a long dodgy walk at night in the rain. Probably be a massive "Ferries Matter" protest if any one tried to stop it with nutters superglued up trees in protest

Job done

 

[dom]

Is there any proof of that?

Public inquiry still trundling along, but deceptive disclosures and administrative malpractice has seemed all-but certain for quite some time:
Exclusive: Kensington Council's £129m Property Windfall That Could Have Prevented Grenfell Cost-Cutting

That said, you are right, I suspect this process has some time to run before hard conclusions can be drawn and charges possibly brought.

 

[dom]

While not wishing to unsettle the Conspiricy Theory Tendency who appear to roam wild and free at the moment.....
For those of us with actual boats and who also actually use them..................
To go under the bridge all one needs to do is to go online, fill in a simple form and indicate when you wish to go under the bridge .
The cruel nepotistic oppressors of right thinking people, would like 72 hours notice at the moment.

One might like to reflect that the bridges across the Thames were not publically funded and charged tolls in the correct capitalist manner, it was only later when they were taken into public ownership.

Home - The Rochester Bridge Trust

But this thread is about the land users convenience and safety — school kids, commuters, etc. — not the river boats!

 

[RobbieW]

like this one ?

View attachment 114497

Then someone could write a song about it...

 

[Adios]

Outside of London humans can do this:

See how they have legs that bend and hands that hold on. Amazing agility. But London humans won't travel on anything less than this and need a multimillion pound pier built which will take another year.

 

[Adios]

Cricky even older non-london humans are like mountain goats compared to Londoners

 

[Daydream believer]

Public inquiry still trundling along, but deceptive disclosures and administrative malpractice has seemed all-but certain for quite some time:
Exclusive: Kensington Council's £129m Property Windfall That Could Have Prevented Grenfell Cost-Cutting

That said, you are right, I suspect this process has some time to run before hard conclusions can be drawn and charges possibly brought.

There is a difference between maladministration and fraud, which your original post suggests

 

[dom]

There is a difference between maladministration and fraud, which your original post suggests

Fully agree, my instinct is there's something more to this, but we'll have to see where this goes, what the CPS thinks, etc.

 

[DJE]

Most likely solution is a temporary bridge using the existing foundations and acting as temporary support and working platform for the repairs.
Hammersmith Bridge | Temporary ‘double-decker’ proposal deemed technically feasible | New Civil Engineer

 

[Adios]

Most likely solution is a temporary bridge using the existing foundations and acting as temporary support and working platform for the repairs.
Hammersmith Bridge | Temporary ‘double-decker’ proposal deemed technically feasible | New Civil Engineer

"Cowan said: “Hammersmith Bridge is one of the oldest suspension bridges in the world and the most expensive in Britain to repair.

“So, while we’re working to fully restore the bridge as quickly as possible, we’re also determined to put in place the necessary governance and long-term funding arrangements that will make sure it is properly maintained well into the next century.”

This is one of those time it seems we are hobbled by our past glory. A more winning approach would be to take the bridge down, sell it to a Chinese businessman to put it in his garden and build a 21st century bridge with the money.

I lived in Bath for a while, a city where the residents are forced to survive the winters with rattling wooden sash windows because plastic replicas aren't good enough even on the 4th floor where no one can see them.

 

[penfold]

Most likely solution is a temporary bridge using the existing foundations and acting as temporary support and working platform for the repairs.
Hammersmith Bridge | Temporary ‘double-decker’ proposal deemed technically feasible | New Civil Engineer

Bloody stupid idea; if the cable pillars let go the towers will go with the deck into the oggin, taking the snickers laying on top with it.

“... we’re working to fully restore the bridge as quickly as possible

No they bloody aren't, otherwise it would be fixed already.

 

[oldgit]

But this thread is about the land users convenience and safety — school kids, commuters, etc. — not the river boats!

For those of us with actual boats and who also actually use them..................

 

[dom]

For those of us with actual boats and who also actually use them..................

...must remember that safe passage through large urban conurbations is a privilege not a right!

 

[DJE]

Bloody stupid idea; if the cable pillars let go the towers will go with the deck into the oggin, taking the snickers laying on top with it.

I don't think you have quite grasped the concept. The new structure supports the old one not the other way round.

 

[Adios]

I don't think you have quite grasped the concept. The new structure supports the old one not the other way round.

Here's a clearer picture. Box section resting on the 2 pillars. I'm not an engineer but it seems like the bridge that is in so much danger of falling down I can't go under it in a dinghy is going to be hanging over the heads of everyone using this. When they make it and when buses are going over it won't that cause significant shock forces through it?

Its all stupid. Instead we need to get our head out of our past worship, take the damn thing down. Sell it to China where apparently they love olde england tat. They'll put it in a theme park or something. And then build a flash new double deck bridge if there is such a demand there. Something showing England is a forward looking cutting edge design type of place.

 

[Gary Fox]

Designing and building a 100m span bridge is trivially easy compared to many civil engineering projects, and not especially expensive. It's the motivation which is lacking..

 

[penfold]

Alternatively they could replace the cracked pillars and let everyone get on with their lives; the giant cost estimates are because they've rolled in the cost of catching up on decades of deferred maintenance, which is where the argument between metro and national govt arises over the bill. I bet some enterprising civ engineers(stereotypically they would be cloggies, but whatever) could have new pillars fitted in 6 months and at a fraction of the giant figures bandied about.

That's a bloody stupid idea and ugly to boot.

Here's a clearer picture. Box section resting on the 2 pillars. I'm not an engineer but it seems like the bridge that is in so much danger of falling down I can't go under it in a dinghy is going to be hanging over the heads of everyone using this. When they make it and when buses are going over it won't that cause significant shock forces through it?

Its all stupid. Instead we need to get our head out of our past worship, take the damn thing down. Sell it to China where apparently they love olde england tat. They'll put it in a theme park or something. And then build a flash new double deck bridge if there is such a demand there. Something showing England is a forward looking cutting edge design type of place.

View attachment 114587