Forth Road Bridge after work each evening
Discussion
Edinburger said:
tvrolet said:
A bit of spin in there. The ‘open 30 times when the old bridge would have been closed’ relates to any traffic stoppage. In 40 years of crossing the Forth by bridge I can only remember a handful of times it was closed to cars. The closure to double deckers and high vehicles causes problems for sure, but it didn’t gridlock most of South Fife. So why not put the wind deflectors on the old bridge too - it never closed for snow on the bloody cables.
...and don’t get me started again on the congestion. The other spin there is ‘but the northbound queue was often back to the M90 and it’s no worse’. Nope. The slip is maybe 2 miles longer than the old approach so hitting the end of the traffic queue at the same point actually means about 2 miles more traffic. The whole thing is a f
king shambles and not fit for purpose except in ideal light traffic and good weather. To think otherwise suggests an irregular and non-rush-hour bridge user’s view of things.
I disagree. The QC is a massive improvement on the FRB, with the exception of this ice/snow problem....and don’t get me started again on the congestion. The other spin there is ‘but the northbound queue was often back to the M90 and it’s no worse’. Nope. The slip is maybe 2 miles longer than the old approach so hitting the end of the traffic queue at the same point actually means about 2 miles more traffic. The whole thing is a f
king shambles and not fit for purpose except in ideal light traffic and good weather. To think otherwise suggests an irregular and non-rush-hour bridge user’s view of things. Smokehead said:
I've always said the new crossing should have been a big tunnel, with perhaps a railway rack incorporated, but as a vanity project wouldn't have the same impact because no-one is interested in taking photo's of a hole in the ground for the shortbread tin brigade.
Tunnel's flood. No crossing is infallible.DavieW said:
I remember a few years ago the FRB closed because of icicles on the structure. Why, if the QC was closed due to ice, was the FRB not closed as well seeing as they are virtually next to each other?
Maybe because they’re different types of bridge? FRB has vertical cables whereas the QC has diagonal ones?Look at this: https://www.theforthbridges.org/news/update-on-eff...
Given the strong winds have been coming from the west, couldn't they have risk assessed the situation and opened the northbound lane, any ice falling would surely have been blown onto the centre of the bridge, south bound carriage way or over the east side of the bridge with the 50mph gusts...
Edited by scz4 on Tuesday 11th February 20:42
Why is it shut at present?, there is no ice, the conditions are no worse than many other occasions the last couple of years,
there is some slushy snow here and there but beast from the east saw a hell of a lot worse conditions and it didn't shut then.
There has to be more to this story than they are letting on.
there is some slushy snow here and there but beast from the east saw a hell of a lot worse conditions and it didn't shut then.
There has to be more to this story than they are letting on.
One of the minister's statements said:
http://trafficscotland.org/news/story.aspx?id=1700...
As I said earlier though - trace heating on the cables would probably fix this.
http://trafficscotland.org/news/story.aspx?id=1700...
Michael Matheson said:
“We are developing our understanding of these conditions, which involve a certain consistency of snow and/or sleet, wind speed and direction, interacting fluctuating low temperatures. This is leading to an ice formation on the bridge’s towers and cables at low temperature which has subsequently fallen from the bridge when thawed.
Which sounds a bit like the old British Rail "wrong type of snow" - given the way there's been quite a bit of rain, hail and sleet falling and the temp has been hanging around freezing, I can just about see a situation where you get rain, wet snow or I guess almost thawed hail falling on the already frozen deposits, freezing and then causing an increasing build-up of ice. If it was just cold & snowing the snow would probably fall off the cables while it was still soft & not do any damage. I assume there's going to be a proper engineer's/meterologist's report on this one - it'll probably make interesting reading.As I said earlier though - trace heating on the cables would probably fix this.
The bridge has re-opened.
It was not the only bridge to be closed due to this weather.
PoM - look at the windscreen here and you tell us if it should have been closed or not
- https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-51472949
It was not the only bridge to be closed due to this weather.
PoM - look at the windscreen here and you tell us if it should have been closed or not
- https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-51472949Halmyre said:
Mild weather my arse, it wasn't banana skins I was slipping on this morning.
morning being the operative word. at the time I posted that last night south queensfery was mild and the roads were clear. there was furter snowfall during the night but at 10 last night it was calm and 3 degrees and the roads were clear.Pastor Of Muppets said:
Why is it shut at present?, there is no ice, the conditions are no worse than many other occasions the last couple of years,
there is some slushy snow here and there but beast from the east saw a hell of a lot worse conditions and it didn't shut then.
There has to be more to this story than they are letting on.
Have you examined the bridge in its entirety?there is some slushy snow here and there but beast from the east saw a hell of a lot worse conditions and it didn't shut then.
There has to be more to this story than they are letting on.
Safety first.
OldGermanHeaps said:
Halmyre said:
Mild weather my arse, it wasn't banana skins I was slipping on this morning.
morning being the operative word. at the time I posted that last night south queensfery was mild and the roads were clear. there was furter snowfall during the night but at 10 last night it was calm and 3 degrees and the roads were clear.Gosh, and this being the first ever cable-stayed bridge there was no knowledge that there might be a problem like this.
Every other cable-stayed bridge in a temperate climate has suffered with this to some extent, yet the government have managed to remain ignorant of it until last winter, then managed to do fk all about it after some cars got their screens panned in, to now rolling out the equivalent of 'the dog ate my homework' bullst. We've had such an array of 5* talent in the position of Transport Secretary in the last few years, how can such a thing have happened?
Every other cable-stayed bridge in a temperate climate has suffered with this to some extent, yet the government have managed to remain ignorant of it until last winter, then managed to do f
k all about it after some cars got their screens panned in, to now rolling out the equivalent of 'the dog ate my homework' bullst. We've had such an array of 5* talent in the position of Transport Secretary in the last few years, how can such a thing have happened? hidetheelephants said:
Gosh, and this being the first ever cable-stayed bridge there was no knowledge that there might be a problem like this.
Every other cable-stayed bridge in a temperate climate has suffered with this to some extent, yet the government have managed to remain ignorant of it until last winter, then managed to do fk all about it after some cars got their screens panned in, to now rolling out the equivalent of 'the dog ate my homework' bullst. We've had such an array of 5* talent in the position of Transport Secretary in the last few years, how can such a thing have happened?
And every other cable-stayed bridge has the same solution in similar conditions - shut the bridge until the danger has passed.Every other cable-stayed bridge in a temperate climate has suffered with this to some extent, yet the government have managed to remain ignorant of it until last winter, then managed to do f
k all about it after some cars got their screens panned in, to now rolling out the equivalent of 'the dog ate my homework' bullst. We've had such an array of 5* talent in the position of Transport Secretary in the last few years, how can such a thing have happened? Gassing Station | Scotland | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff