Havengore Bridge - Broke!

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tillergirl

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Havengore Bridge Closed: 21.05.19

Due to a mechanical fault on Sunday 19 May, Havengore Bridge is closed to marine traffic. The contractor was on site yesterday and has diagnosed the fault as a burnt out motor on one of the road traffic safety barriers. The replacement part has been ordered and we will provide an estimated date for repair when we receive an update from the contractor.

We apologise for any inconvenience, but are hopeful that the fault will be rectified this week.

Nicki Uden – Community Liaison Officer, SHOEBURYNESS RANGE
Careline: 0800 0560108
Email: nuden@QinetiQ.com

www.QinetiQ.com
People Who Know How
 
tillergirl said:
Havengore Bridge Closed: 21.05.19 Tuesday

Due to a mechanical fault on Sunday 19 May, Havengore Bridge is closed to marine traffic. The contractor was on site yesterday [Monday] and has diagnosed the fault as a burnt out motor on one of the road traffic safety barriers. . . . [/email]

www.QinetiQ.com
People Who Know How(sic)
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A stuck traffic safety barrier??? You would have thought there'd be a work around for that.

I bet they wouldn't let vehicular traffic be interrupted for days because the marine signals were out of action.
 
In fairness, there might be an 'interlock'; i.e if the barrier don't go down, the bridge won't open. I don't know if there is such a thingy but with the H & S rules now-a-days...…...
 
Phew, was intending going through Havengore last Sunday, but decided at the last moment to take a different route back to Bradwell. Would have a been awkward turning up and then discovering that I couldn’t get through.

Hope no one got stuck there on Sunday.
 
tillergirl said:
In fairness, there might be an 'interlock'; i.e if the barrier don't go down, the bridge won't open. .
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Exactly. I'm sure there is*. And is there an interlock that says if the marine signals aren't working the bridge won't close?

(*Is there an over-ride? Can the staff not be trusted to put out some cones out if the barrier fails? Can easy access to defence establishments be easily obtained simply by jamming the traffic barriers?)
 
LittleSister said:
Exactly. I'm sure there is*. And is there an interlock that says if the marine signals aren't working the bridge won't close?

(*Is there an over-ride? Can the staff not be trusted to put out some cones out if the barrier fails? Can easy access to defence establishments be easily obtained simply by jamming the traffic barriers?)
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Some people would say it's convenient for something to break just when you are a bit short of bridgekeeping staff, but I couldn't possibly comment....
 
We hear that's it's been fixed and is operating again.
I guess the unfortunate bridge-keepers lost out on overtime duties this weekend?
 
Cantata said:
We hear that's it's been fixed and is operating again.
I guess the unfortunate bridge-keepers lost out on overtime duties this weekend?
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Possibly they just wanted a long weekend like the rest of those who work.

In all the years I have been sailing on the East Coast, I have felt inclined to use the Havengore Bridge. Is there any real benefit when travelling from the Medway as the benefit of taking the tide from Sheerness means you cannot go over the sands to get there.
 
Concerto said:
In all the years I have been sailing on the East Coast, I have felt inclined to use the Havengore Bridge. Is there any real benefit when travelling from the Medway as the benefit of taking the tide from Sheerness means you cannot go over the sands to get there.
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It's an interesting and fun thing to do.

There isn't any real practical benefit, just as there isn't any practical benefit in travelling by yacht - it would be much cheaper and faster to use other means of transport.
 
LittleSister said:
It's an interesting and fun thing to do.

There isn't any real practical benefit, just as there isn't any practical benefit in travelling by yacht - it would be much cheaper and faster to use other means of transport.
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It also means you can break the journey with an overnight stop in the Yolkesfleet/Roach/Crouch, particularly useful if you aren't in a hurry (or have a slow craft) or the weather isn't conducive to going up the outside.
 
I heard on VHF on Saturday that the bridge was broken yet again. It doesn't say much for Qinetiq's engineering expertise. I hope their defence gadgets are better.
 
OK we've all had a poke at this lot especially over the past couple of years.
However, after all the outages, there is now a lot going on in the background involving local boating interests, with regular meetings going on involving Qinetic, and there is a feeling that real progress is being made. Maintenance contractors have been changed, daily test programmes are now run, and the MoD has provided a budget for a stock of spare parts whereas before it seems that each breakdown was handled as a one-off. Many of the parts are now bespoke, and cannot simply be bought off the shelf.
I guess the visible improvement will be slow, but in the meantime we are all encouraged to use the waterway more, because that will reinforce the point that it's really needed.
 
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