The Maintenance of Bridges and Stations.
Discussion
Last week I drove through Stile Hall Gardens in Chiswick and saw a footbridge and thought that it didn't look like it had changed at all since the day it was built. A quick search revealed that the Brookes Lane footbridge is under review and the subject of wider discussion.
Yesterday, I had to hop off a Mill Hill East-bound train and wait for a High Barnet train on the same line. I wanted to be outside and decided to skip 'still underground' Highgate and chose the outdoors East Finchley Station to switch trains. Looking that the iconic building with its semi circular art deco windows, it too looked tired and uncared for; lumps of concrete were missing from the roof and the shell generally looked like it was peeling and crumbling.
I've often looked at structures on my travels and there appears to be a common theme of not maintaining these structures. A much more recent bridge en route to the Emirates Stadium - the Ken Friar Bridge - was white when it first went up. It's now green.
The state of the roads in this country is a discussion of its own and has been so for a long time. Near where I live, Barnet Hill (which rises up to Hadley High Stone as it takes you past High Barnet station) the road surface broke up (again) and pot holes appeared in a few places. As the surface crumbed away, widening and deepening the potholes, you could see the original cobbled road under it.
Once upon a time these structures were built, but we don't seem to have any intention (or budget) to maintain them. Why? A large part of it is attitude in my opinion. Sections of years old fence is destroyed by a car, and eventually, the council will come and erect a new section to repair it leaving the old boundary where it fell. The same for some lampposts. When I paid to have the kerb lowered to my drive, the original thick, solid paving slabs (which had been there since 1939 I think) were replaced with smaller, thinner slabs which threw the pattern out and most of them cracked within weeks of being laid.
Yesterday, I had to hop off a Mill Hill East-bound train and wait for a High Barnet train on the same line. I wanted to be outside and decided to skip 'still underground' Highgate and chose the outdoors East Finchley Station to switch trains. Looking that the iconic building with its semi circular art deco windows, it too looked tired and uncared for; lumps of concrete were missing from the roof and the shell generally looked like it was peeling and crumbling.
I've often looked at structures on my travels and there appears to be a common theme of not maintaining these structures. A much more recent bridge en route to the Emirates Stadium - the Ken Friar Bridge - was white when it first went up. It's now green.
The state of the roads in this country is a discussion of its own and has been so for a long time. Near where I live, Barnet Hill (which rises up to Hadley High Stone as it takes you past High Barnet station) the road surface broke up (again) and pot holes appeared in a few places. As the surface crumbed away, widening and deepening the potholes, you could see the original cobbled road under it.
Once upon a time these structures were built, but we don't seem to have any intention (or budget) to maintain them. Why? A large part of it is attitude in my opinion. Sections of years old fence is destroyed by a car, and eventually, the council will come and erect a new section to repair it leaving the old boundary where it fell. The same for some lampposts. When I paid to have the kerb lowered to my drive, the original thick, solid paving slabs (which had been there since 1939 I think) were replaced with smaller, thinner slabs which threw the pattern out and most of them cracked within weeks of being laid.
Rail structures like that definitely do get maintained. I spent 20 years as a rail structures examiner and examinations manager. They get a Visual exam every year and a Detailed Exam every 6 years (in general - asset managers at NR can amend the exam schedule depending on condition). Examiners compile pretty detailed reports covering the condition of all elements of the bridge (for metal bridges it would include thickness measurements of main load bearing beams and plate). Decent paint covering is the best way to prolong the service life of metal structures. It takes time though to repair or repaint even a small footbridge like the one in your photo, and you can only do maintenance when the lines are closed, so it all tends to be done on weekend nights or over bank holidays. That makes it very expensive, so bridges can go a number of years without any maintenance and typically only get decent maintenance when the BCMI (bridge condition measuring index) demands it or when an examiner identifies a serious defect.
The biggest issue with the UK rail network is that a massive amount of it was built in a short period at the end of the 19th century. Loads (thousands) of those original stone and brick structures are still operational now. They are increasingly expensive to maintain and keep in use.
Metal structures - things like the large through-truss viaducts such as Runcorn Viaduct and steel arch bridges like Britannia Bridge over the Menai Strait must be phenomenally expensive to maintain. I know that over the last 20 years I’ve spend many weeks climbing around doing inspections and investigation work on both of those bridges and they’re still getting regular and expensive maintenance now. The new rail footbridges I’ve seen which are replacing the old ones are pretty good quality and the design life I would guess is 100 years (although i don’t know that for sure).
Bottom line is; we do have a very good program to inspect and maintain our structures. Some need a lot more than others though and that often depends on the quality of the original design and build.
If you don’t have good inspection and maintenance programs, bridges tend to go on for a long time but then collapse catastrophically with little warning (see recent collapses in Italy).
Edit to add:
That’s a pretty new and good quality footbridge near Luton I think that I worked in a few years ago.
This in the other hand is at Sheffield Station and has been closed for a few years. It’s pretty much at the end of its life and I think it’s due for demolition soon (it’s also no longer required).
The biggest issue with the UK rail network is that a massive amount of it was built in a short period at the end of the 19th century. Loads (thousands) of those original stone and brick structures are still operational now. They are increasingly expensive to maintain and keep in use.
Metal structures - things like the large through-truss viaducts such as Runcorn Viaduct and steel arch bridges like Britannia Bridge over the Menai Strait must be phenomenally expensive to maintain. I know that over the last 20 years I’ve spend many weeks climbing around doing inspections and investigation work on both of those bridges and they’re still getting regular and expensive maintenance now. The new rail footbridges I’ve seen which are replacing the old ones are pretty good quality and the design life I would guess is 100 years (although i don’t know that for sure).
Bottom line is; we do have a very good program to inspect and maintain our structures. Some need a lot more than others though and that often depends on the quality of the original design and build.
If you don’t have good inspection and maintenance programs, bridges tend to go on for a long time but then collapse catastrophically with little warning (see recent collapses in Italy).
Edit to add:
That’s a pretty new and good quality footbridge near Luton I think that I worked in a few years ago.
This in the other hand is at Sheffield Station and has been closed for a few years. It’s pretty much at the end of its life and I think it’s due for demolition soon (it’s also no longer required).
Edited by TeaNoSugar on Monday 26th May 14:40
TeaNoSugar said:
Rail structures like that definitely do get maintained. I spent 20 years as a rail structures examiner and examinations manager. They get a Visual exam every year and a Detailed Exam every 6 years (in general - asset managers at NR can amend the exam schedule depending on condition). Examiners compile pretty detailed reports covering the condition of all elements of the bridge (for metal bridges it would include thickness measurements of main load bearing beams and plate). Decent paint covering is the best way to prolong the service life of metal structures. It takes time though to repair or repaint even a small footbridge like the one in your photo, and you can only do maintenance when the lines are closed, so it all tends to be done on weekend nights or over bank holidays. That makes it very expensive, so bridges can go a number of years without any maintenance and typically only get decent maintenance when the BCMI (bridge condition measuring index) demands it or when an examiner identifies a serious defect.
The biggest issue with the UK rail network is that a massive amount of it was built in a short period at the end of the 19th century. Loads (thousands) of those original stone and brick structures are still operational now. They are increasingly expensive to maintain and keep in use.
Metal structures - things like the large through-truss viaducts such as Runcorn Viaduct and steel arch bridges like Britannia Bridge over the Menai Strait must be phenomenally expensive to maintain. I know that over the last 20 years I’ve spend many weeks climbing around doing inspections and investigation work on both of those bridges and they’re still getting regular and expensive maintenance now. The new rail footbridges I’ve seen which are replacing the old ones are pretty good quality and the design life I would guess is 100 years (although i don’t know that for sure).
Bottom line is; we do have a very good program to inspect and maintain our structures. Some need a lot more than others though and that often depends on the quality of the original design and build.
If you don’t have good inspection and maintenance programs, bridges tend to go on for a long time but then collapse catastrophically with little warning (see recent collapses in Italy).
Perhaps (public facing) infrastructure like this should have a board attached to it/nearby listing inspection dates to inform the public (and instill confidence) that it is being maintained.The biggest issue with the UK rail network is that a massive amount of it was built in a short period at the end of the 19th century. Loads (thousands) of those original stone and brick structures are still operational now. They are increasingly expensive to maintain and keep in use.
Metal structures - things like the large through-truss viaducts such as Runcorn Viaduct and steel arch bridges like Britannia Bridge over the Menai Strait must be phenomenally expensive to maintain. I know that over the last 20 years I’ve spend many weeks climbing around doing inspections and investigation work on both of those bridges and they’re still getting regular and expensive maintenance now. The new rail footbridges I’ve seen which are replacing the old ones are pretty good quality and the design life I would guess is 100 years (although i don’t know that for sure).
Bottom line is; we do have a very good program to inspect and maintain our structures. Some need a lot more than others though and that often depends on the quality of the original design and build.
If you don’t have good inspection and maintenance programs, bridges tend to go on for a long time but then collapse catastrophically with little warning (see recent collapses in Italy).
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