tillergirl
Well-Known Member
"Havengore Bridge – Closed to marine traffic (05.08.18)
On Sunday 5 August, Havengore Bridge failed in the open position on lifting. The test lift was completed on Thursday 2 August with no issues reported and we went into the weekend with confidence that the bridge would operate. QinetiQ engineers attended and lowered the bridge manually to restore road access to Foulness Island which takes priority so that emergency access is maintained. The specialist engineers will be attending tomorrow when we will have a fault diagnosis and estimated down time.
It’s apparent that in spite of regular maintenance and testing, the bridge is still prone to unforeseen and intermittent failure and our contractors are investigating an underlying cause. In the meantime, we’re advising mariners that when the bridge is declared open to marine traffic (following fault rectification and testing), that they should be aware of the possibility that it may fail on operation, and that they should be prepared to take an alternate route/have a contingency plan in place.
Mariners can contact the bridgekeeper on the day and on approach to check the status on 01702 383436 or VHF Channel 72. We also attempt to notify mariners when failures occur out of hours (when limited resources are available) and will be adding announcements about bridge failures to the information that we already provide to HM Coastguard to be broadcast in Local Navigational Warnings.
We will provide a further update following the engineers’ report.
Nicki Uden – Community Liaison Officer, SHOEBURYNESS RANGE"
Good prompt information, I feel.
On Sunday 5 August, Havengore Bridge failed in the open position on lifting. The test lift was completed on Thursday 2 August with no issues reported and we went into the weekend with confidence that the bridge would operate. QinetiQ engineers attended and lowered the bridge manually to restore road access to Foulness Island which takes priority so that emergency access is maintained. The specialist engineers will be attending tomorrow when we will have a fault diagnosis and estimated down time.
It’s apparent that in spite of regular maintenance and testing, the bridge is still prone to unforeseen and intermittent failure and our contractors are investigating an underlying cause. In the meantime, we’re advising mariners that when the bridge is declared open to marine traffic (following fault rectification and testing), that they should be aware of the possibility that it may fail on operation, and that they should be prepared to take an alternate route/have a contingency plan in place.
Mariners can contact the bridgekeeper on the day and on approach to check the status on 01702 383436 or VHF Channel 72. We also attempt to notify mariners when failures occur out of hours (when limited resources are available) and will be adding announcements about bridge failures to the information that we already provide to HM Coastguard to be broadcast in Local Navigational Warnings.
We will provide a further update following the engineers’ report.
Nicki Uden – Community Liaison Officer, SHOEBURYNESS RANGE"
Good prompt information, I feel.
