Jump to content

Thames closed to navigation at Hammersmith


magnetman

Featured Posts

Looks like Hammersmith bridge is in a seriously bad state.

 

From PLA website

---

NOTICE TO MARINERS U10 of 2020
12 August 2020
Port of London Authority 
London River House, Royal Pier Road, 
Gravesend, Kent DA12 2BG
Sarah Macleod
Acting Harbour Master 
(Upper)
EXPIRY DATE: TBC

.....
BARN ELMS REACH
HAMMERSMITH BRIDGE – CLOSED TO 
NAVIGATION
Due to urgent safety concerns, Hammersmith & Fulham Council have closed Hammersmith 
Bridge to river traffic following expert technical advice.
Hammersmith & Fulham Council have confirmed that there is significant risk to vessels and 
persons passing underneath the bridge. We regrettably advise navigation underneath 
Hammersmith Bridge is not permitted and an exclusion zone of 15 metres upriver and 
downriver of the bridge has been established. 
Arches closed to navigation will be marked in accordance with the Port of London Authority 
Thames Byelaws 2012 namely: 
• By day, three red discs 0.6 metres in diameter at the points of an equilateral triangle 
with the apex downwards and the base horizontal
• By night, three red lights in similar positions to the discs displayed by day.
The Bridge owners are working hard to minimise the duration of the closure and are 
considering several options.
For any enquires regarding the Hammersmith Bridge works and this emergency closure, 
please contact Hammersmith & Fulham Council at:
Mr. Anvar Alizadeh
Highway Structures Manager
Tel. 020 87533303
Email: anvar.alizadeh@lbhf.gov.uk
London VTS will include the closure in routine river broadcasts on VHF Channel 14.

 

---

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was about to counter with the earler note that the Southern side was open to leisure craft - but that was closed at lunchtime   today as well (mebe indicating that the whole structure is in danger??)

 

No longer "London Bridge is falling down" - but "Hammersmith Bridge is falling down" doesn't scan so well in the rhyme?

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

53 minutes ago, David Mack said:

There have been concerns about the state of Hammersmith Bridge for some time, and it was closed to traffic last year. It seems existing cracks have suddenly got worse.

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/uk-england-london-53767214

 

Looks like the sunshine has done what a runaway barge and the IRA failed to do!

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As ever.

 

Risk averse pen pushers at work.

 

Simple enough to post a notice you pass under or over entirely at you own risk.

 

In multiple languages of course.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

25 minutes ago, The Happy Nomad said:

As ever.

 

Risk averse pen pushers at work.

 

Simple enough to post a notice you pass under or over entirely at you own risk.

 

In multiple languages of course.

 

 

Posting such a notice wouldn’t remove the duty of care that the Highways/Bridge Engineer has to users.

 

Built infrastructure can fail and endanger lives. I assume you have seen this week’s news.

 

It’s real people that carry those responsibilities and few, if any, on here are qualified to judge their decisions even if they were party to the information those people hold.

 

JP

Edited by Captain Pegg
  • Greenie 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

What a sad state of affairs, a major bridge in the capital city is in such a bad condition that vehicles, pedestrians and now craft passing under are not allowed. What is the Mayor of London or the authority that is meant to maintain this bridge doing ?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, CV32 said:

What a sad state of affairs, a major bridge in the capital city is in such a bad condition that vehicles, pedestrians and now craft passing under are not allowed. What is the Mayor of London or the authority that is meant to maintain this bridge doing ?

Revitalise the Garden Bridge, spend another £50m and turn Hammersmith Bridge into a pay per view tourist attraction using VR headsets.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, CV32 said:

What a sad state of affairs, a major bridge in the capital city is in such a bad condition that vehicles, pedestrians and now craft passing under are not allowed. What is the Mayor of London or the authority that is meant to maintain this bridge doing ?

Probably having an internal argument about who is to blame having spent the last few years having an internal argument about whether the funding and the road closures needed for repair can be justified while questioning the professional opinion of those they employ to maintain it.

 

JP

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 minutes ago, Captain Pegg said:

Posting such a notice wouldn’t remove the duty of care that the Highways/Bridge Engineer has to users.

 

Built infrastructure can fail and endanger lives. I assume you have seen this week’s news.

 

It’s real people that carry those responsibilities and few, if any, on here are qualified to judge their decisions even if they were party to the information those people hold.

 

JP

Of course.

 

I know from personal experience how risk averse public organisations can be.

 

There is a gravitational draw towards being the most risk averse they can be.

 

Of course its not really their fault, given the propensity for some individuals to sue for compensation at each and every opportunity.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

22 minutes ago, Captain Pegg said:

Probably having an internal argument about who is to blame having spent the last few years having an internal argument about whether the funding and the road closures needed for repair can be justified while questioning the professional opinion of those they employ to maintain it.

 

JP

I thought this was quite interesting 

FOI request on whatdotheyknow

 

"Mr. Owen Sheppard
???
Our reference : 1502949
Dear Mr. Sheppard
Thank you for your request for information which was received on 23 April 2019.
Your request
I would like to ask the following questions about how much money the council has spent on maintaining and checking Hammersmith Bridge, due its known long-standing structural problems.
Can you provide me with a breakdown of how much the council spent on carrying
out monitoring and assessments of the condition of Hammersmith Bridge in every financial year since 2013/2014?
How much did the council spend on surveying work on Hammersmith Bridge in every financial year since 2013/2014?
How much did the council spend on repair works to Hammersmith Bridge in each of the years 2016/2017 and 2017/2018?
Our response
This request is being handled under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
I am writing to inform you that we have searched our records and the information you requested is not held by Hammersmith and Fulham."

 

----

 

 

Presumably this means £0

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, The Happy Nomad said:

Of course.

 

I know from personal experience how risk averse public organisations can be.

 

There is a gravitational draw towards being the most risk averse they can be.

 

Of course its not really their fault, given the propensity for some individuals to sue for compensation at each and every opportunity.

 

Grenfell is only a mile or two away. A good example of what can go wrong when people and companies don't take their accountability seriously??   

Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 hours ago, CV32 said:

What a sad state of affairs, a major bridge in the capital city is in such a bad condition that vehicles, pedestrians and now craft passing under are not allowed. What is the Mayor of London or the authority that is meant to maintain this bridge doing ?

Closing the bridge to maintain it, as far as I can tell. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not according to the PLA Notice. 

 

 

11 minutes ago, Rumsky said:

Closing the bridge to maintain it, as far as I can tell. 

"NAVIGATION
Due to urgent safety concerns, Hammersmith & Fulham Council have closed Hammersmith 
Bridge to river traffic following expert technical advice.
Hammersmith & Fulham Council have confirmed that there is significant risk to vessels and persons passing underneath the bridge. "

 

from the PLA NTM U10 of 2020.

 

Does not seem to be maintenance related it's definitely a safety problem. 

 

There are distinct differences between ongoing maintenance and emergency repairs. 

 

I reckon it's just nackered and should be dismantled and sold to some vanity billionaire and put another bridge in its place. I'm sure the people who built it would find it very odd that it has been retained when it was not fit for modern use. 

 

 

 

Edited by magnetman
  • Greenie 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you furtle around the TFL website you'll find a more detailed explanation of the current problems. It transpires that ultrasonic (?) examination has recently shown there's a huge crack in the cast iron towers that support the cablles and the road structure.

The implication is that the roadway etc could fall into the water  with little or no warning.

Nasty,

Expensive,

Kerching.

 

Being a listed building you can't just pull it down (but you could let it rot???)

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

48 minutes ago, OldGoat said:

If you furtle around the TFL website you'll find a more detailed explanation of the current problems. It transpires that ultrasonic (?) examination has recently shown there's a huge crack in the cast iron towers that support the cablles and the road structure.

The implication is that the roadway etc could fall into the water  with little or no warning.

Nasty,

Expensive,

Kerching.

 

Being a listed building you can't just pull it down (but you could let it rot???)

 

The cracks are not in the main towers. They are in the pedestals that support the cables at the abutments. Cracks pictured at https://www.lbhf.gov.uk/articles/news/2020/08/133-year-old-hammersmith-bridge-closed-due-urgent-safety-concerns.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Another thing on the TFL status update is that the closure will remain in place until refurbishment is complete. 

 

Whether that includes the River remaining completely closed is an interesting question. 

 

As far as I know there is no "essential" trade occurring in that area. No oil, food, goods or aggregates moving around. All of that is lower down the River. 

 

Yes there are usually tripper boats (another nail in the coffin for Colliers launches I guess) and plenty of pleasure plus the occasional commercial but how important are these when you consider other things happening?

 

They'll have to get good security on that bridge to reduce the chance of another device being placed on it. 

 

Must be a terrorists dream to drop that in the River !! 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

47 minutes ago, magnetman said:

Another thing on the TFL status update is that the closure will remain in place until refurbishment is complete. 

 

Whether that includes the River remaining completely closed is an interesting question. 

 

As far as I know there is no "essential" trade occurring in that area. No oil, food, goods or aggregates moving around. All of that is lower down the River. 

 

Yes there are usually tripper boats (another nail in the coffin for Colliers launches I guess) and plenty of pleasure plus the occasional commercial but how important are these when you consider other things happening?

 

They'll have to get good security on that bridge to reduce the chance of another device being placed on it. 

 

Must be a terrorists dream to drop that in the River !! 

 

The IRA have tried three times to blow this bridge up!

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996_Hammersmith_Bridge_bombing

 

Edited by Tim Lewis
Link to comment
Share on other sites

For everybody else there is an alternative. Inconvenient maybe, but there. But for smaller boats on the river the only alternative is a lengthy diversion via the Grand Union and Regents Canals, for larger craft there is no alternative. And there must be a number of larger craft upstream of the bridge that are now trapped. 

My guess is that work will hastily be done to allow at least limited passage by boats, even if the bridge remains closed to everybody else.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Maybe some temporary supports? Interesting to note that the central pillar for Albert Bridge was added in 1973.

18 hours ago, Tim Lewis said:

By co-incidence ?  this appeared on my Facebook timeline today, looks to be a similar bridge

 

https://timeline.com/the-deadliest-bridge-disaster-in-us-history-was-caused-by-a-tiny-crack-just-3-millimeters-deep-ca5404c4dffa

There's an interesting YouTube video on this.  A particular problem with this bridge was the design had a single point of failure.

 

 

 

  • Greenie 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

22 hours ago, David Mack said:

For everybody else there is an alternative. Inconvenient maybe, but there. But for smaller boats on the river the only alternative is a lengthy diversion via the Grand Union and Regents Canals, for larger craft there is no alternative. And there must be a number of larger craft upstream of the bridge that are now trapped. 

My guess is that work will hastily be done to allow at least limited passage by boats, even if the bridge remains closed to everybody else.

Road transport is an option for most vessels on the upper Thames. 

 

I did a quick calculation in my head of £25 per day marina charges or £1500 for road transport (could be more for the road I have not got a quote but that's what I paid last year for Boston Lincs to Reading Berks for a 30x10ft6 16 tonnes motorcruiser including travel hoists each end).  

 

So that would mean if it was 6 weeks you would pay £1500 in marina fees. Then add visits if you want to visit, Thames license, worries etc.

And the boat still would not be where you want it to be. 

 

Someone on the Thames forum posted this morning that they asked the PLA and PLA said River closure for 6 weeks. 

 

Not sure if this is on the NTM and don't take it as gospel as it is second hand news but it does make the road option quite a lot more interesting if the boat won't fit down the cut. And there are surely going to be some unusual boats attempting the GU - Regents route in the coming weeks !!

 

 

 

Edited by magnetman
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 14/08/2020 at 18:56, The Happy Nomad said:

As ever.

 

Risk averse pen pushers at work.

 

Simple enough to post a notice you pass under or over entirely at you own risk.

 

In multiple languages of course.

 

 

Did the Italians put such a notice on this bridge (https://edition.cnn.com/europe/live-news/genoa-bridge-collapse/index.html)?

 

If the bridge is unsafe passing over, or under, it is what an idiot would do, isn't it?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.