Hackney Wick Station And The Florida International University Pedestrian Bridge Collapse
The title of this post might seem a bit unusual, as the two locations are in different continents and thousands of miles apart.
But there is a connection, in that the new Hackney Wick station and the Florida International University bridge, were built using the same construction method called accelerated bridge construction.
There are some major differences.
- At Hackney Wick a short, fat subway was built alongside the railway and moved in using self-propelled modular transporters. In Florida a long thin span was installed , in a similar way.
- The Hackney Wick station subway, probably weighs a lot more than the pedestrian footbridge.
- The Hackney Wick subway and the platforms and track on top, was fully reinstated before trains could cross, whereas the Florida span was part of a cable-stay bridge, which hadn’t been completed.
- The Hackney Wick subway will be carrying trains of several hundred tons, whereas the Florida bridge will be carrying people.
It looks to me, that there has been some inaccurate calculations, which led to the collapse of the Florida International University bridge.
A Gothic Railway Fantasy
They don’t build bridges like the Oberbaum bridge in Berlin anymore.
Thinking about it, London’s only fantasy bridge is Tower Bridge.
Walking Around Sunderland
I took these pictures as I walked around Sunderland.
There is a lot of potential for improvement.
The Northern Spire Bridge
The Northern Spire Bridge is being built across the River Wear to the West of Sunderland.
The pictures were taken from the Tyne and Wear Metro between Pallion and South Hylton stations.
It will be a dual-carriageway with provision for pedestrians and cyclists.
This Year’s Engineers Christmas Party Is At Highbury And Islington Station
Three year’s ago, I wrote VolkerFitzpatrick Are Having A Christmas Party At South Tottenham.
This year’s Engineers Chrismas Party is at Highbury and Islington station, where they are replacing the bridge on the Holloway Road over the North London Line.
These pictures were taken on the 20th of December.
The first action of the rebuilding of the bridge was the shutting of the Post Office outside the station, which I wrote about in Highbury And Islington Post Office Is Now Shut.
That post dates from July 2014 and signs around the station say the bridge will be replaced by Summer 2018.
Four years to rebuild a bridge. Are Network Rail looking for an entry in the Guinness Book Of Records?
But then Network Rail has form with bridges in North London.
On the Gospel Oak to Barking Line, they forgot to rebuild the bridges at Wightman Road and Crouch Hill.
These pictures were taken on the 22nd of December.
These pictures were taken on the 28th of December.
These pictures were taken on the 31st of December.
The large cranes have gone.
The 8th of January marked the reopening of the roads.
I think the bridge will be fully completed in the Summer.
Ordsall Chord Progress – 22nd September 2017
The Ordsall Chord is coming on.
The wires would appear to be on the way up and it looks like trains will be running over it on schedule around the end of December 2017.
Filming Trains On Rochester Bridge
This weekend, I’ve been involved in helping a Japanese company take video of Class 395 trains for one of their corporate clients.
These pictures show the filming at Rochester on the magnificent Rochester Bridge over the River Medway.
Over The Queensferry Crossing
The Queensferry Crossing is Scotlan’s newest bridge over the Rover Forth.
I took these picture as we went North.
And these were taken coming South.
The one disappointment was that it was difficult to get pictures of the other bridges.
Temporary Barriers On London’s Bridges
Barriers to protect pedestrians have been installed on some of London’s bridges.
I hope these monstrosities are only temporary and they are replaced with something more in keeping with the historic bridges.
I still feel that we should shut Southwark and Lambeth Bridges to all traffic except buses, cyclists and pedestrians.
Protecting Pedestrians From Vehicles Driven By Imbeciles
Look at these Google Maps of part of various bridges across the Thames.
London Bridge
Southwark Bridge
Blackfriars Bridge
Waterloo Bridge
Westminster Bridge
Note.
- How the pedestrians can are easily seen in the images.
- All the bridges have wide pavements, which are designed for easy walking.
- All images were probably taken at the same time and are to the same scale.
- Westminster Bridge is much busier than the others.
There is no protection to stop a bin lorry with a driver who has a high risk of collapse, wandering off into the crowd. Given that that has happened in recent years, surely we should develop a protective system, that stopped vehicles getting on the pavement.
You wouldn’t need it on every road, as very few are likely to suffer an attack from imbeciles. But there have been a couple of pedestrians killed by drunks or drivers who should have given up because of health or advanced age.
Many roads too already have massive protection for pedestrians, as rows of vehicles are parked nose to tail alongside. I’ve never heard of an out of control vehicle going through a line of parked vehicles to kill someone. It must have happened surely!
Perhaps on London’s bridges and the wide pavements of streets like Regent Street and the Embankment, bollards or something physical will help.
But we should think creatively!
Something that could be done in London would be to follow on from the action at Bank Junction, where between seven and seven, the junction is for buses and cyclists only.
As there seems to have been little protest about this action, perhaps it could be done elsewhere and for twenty-four hours.
Look at the image of Southwark Bridge and the bridge is showing its reputation as London’s least used bridge.
So why not make the bridge pedestrians and cyclists only?
That could be done tomorrow and it would take some pressure from London Bridge, especially in the rush hour.
Also, at Blackfriars Bridge, it should be that pedestrians could use Blackfriars station, by just touching in and out and not being charged.
Pedestrian-only routes must be much safer.
The Anonymous Widower 