Cowes new floating bridge broken again ?

VicS

VicS

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It resumed normal service at 0500 hr this morning after several weeks out of service.

@ about 1430 this afternoon it loaded up at E Cowes. the ramp was raised .... nothing more happened for a while ,,, then the ramp was lowered. all the foot passengers disembarked, then they reversed all the cars off !

Now appears to be stranded on the E cowes slipway.

At least this time the passengers did not have to wade ashore!

Much wailing and gnashing of teeth to come I suspect


Webcam : http://www.camsecure.co.uk/river_medina_webcam.html


Apparently cars were still grounding this morning despite the "staff retraining" ...... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-40185129
 
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You'd have thought that with an existing craft on which to model their design errors of this magnitude would be unlikely.
 
colhel said:
Copy and paste from Wave105 radio news.....

Cowes Floating Bridge grounded at East Cowes, will refloat as the tide returns around 7pm
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The crew will get the blame again. Firstly the cars grounded because they did not bring it close enough to the shore so they were trained to bring it closer...... surprise surprise on the first rapidly falling tide it got stuck!

I'd watched it operating earlier during the morning and deliberately watched again around mid ebb to see what would happen.

Sometime in July I believe when longer " fingers" are due to fitted to both prows. You'd think they would be able to get a fundamental like that right in the first place. Find the chief designer and the builder 's CEO and keel haul them I reckon
Keel haul all the councillors for fun too.
 
The entire thing has been a farce, the ramp angle is surely just high school trigenometry. However the old ferry did occasionally get stuck too. On a rapidly ebbing spring tide they would briefly stop loading/unloading and pull the ferry back a little, then resume. And when they weren't quick enough they got stuck.
 
Looks like it's back running again now. However they seem to be getting the loading vehicles to approach the ramp on the West Cowes side at an angle. Also I don't think the sumps are the problem but the rear end.
 
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I was thinking sump damage seems likely after seeing the pics from the Day One Cockup showing lower front bumpers interfacing with the prow / slip, but I suppose both ends of vehicles may be in trouble. :rolleyes:
 
Seajet said:
I was thinking sump damage seems likely after seeing the pics from the Day One Cockup showing lower front bumpers interfacing with the prow / slip, but I suppose both ends of vehicles may be in trouble. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Citroën had this covered in 1955. I move a lever by my seat, I get an extra 1, 2 or 8 inches of ground clearance.
 
clutters said:
Boat + Car would that be a Bar? Or perhaps just a different kind of pig?
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Stagecoach tried a Dutch-built Amfibus on the Clyde a few years back, but nothing came of it. They wee thinking of using it (they said, may just have been a publicity stunt) as a replacement for the Renfrew - Yoker ferries, designed by Ian Nicolson, which had in turn replaced a chain ferry on the crossing.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2010/feb/08/water-bus-clyde-scotland-river

amfibus-clyde.jpg


MV_Renfrew_Rose.jpg


the-beardmore-hotel-conference.jpg
 
So far so good with the operation. Looks like they have retro-fitted some high power strobe lights to augment the rather pathetic orange flashing lights so at least folk should now know when the bridge is moving and in which direction.
 
Floating (or pontoon or Mabey) bridges are still in use in the services.

The generic name for the Cowes Floating Bridge (i.e. a structure connected to the land, like the those used by the army) is "chain ferry".

A "ferry" is a vessel independent of the land. The Cowes Floating Bridge is not.
 
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