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More road-building nonsense:
When will we ever learn?
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Looks like the plan's much larger than that: https://www.london.gov.uk/press-releases/mayoral/mayor-calls-for-new-road-improvement-measures
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Yes, that's all been expected for a while (from the Roads Task Force's silly nonsense).
It's deeply illogical and wrong.
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A horrible tragedy during the building of a 'flyover' in Kolkata:
It's so sad that people in so many places still believe that increasing road capacity is a suitable answer, but even worse that such poor engineering standards are then observed.
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Just in case anyone's in doubt as to how bonkers the urban motorway plans for London really were:
Good article that makes this quite accessible, I think.
To its credit, the population of London has always been solidly against this sort of thing, which is why fortunately little of it has happened. Still too much, mind, and large-scale projects such as rebuilding London where the A40 Westway currently stands remain to be tackled, hopefully without any bonkers 'replacement' roads like ones in tunnels.
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To its credit, the population of London has always been solidly
against this sort of thingThis row of terraced houses ran next to the Central line and would
need to be demolished for the plans, however 92-year-old Dolly Watson
refused to move.Mrs Watson, who was born at number 32 Claremont Road, became a ‘cult
hero’ amongst more seasoned protesters and squatters who had also
barricaded themselves into the abandoned street.She became friends with the anti-road protesters, and was quoted in
papers as saying, "They're not dirty hippy squatters, they're the
grandchildren I never had."RIP Dolly:
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Another good photo series on bonkers road projects:
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/jan/05/unbuilt-highways-urban-development-roads-nowhere
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Government looking to significantly increase road building despite the fact that evidence shows people are moving away from cars.
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Well, a bit of road-building could reverse that trend, couldn't it?
(Missed your post earlier.)
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One thing I've been following quite a lot over the last few years is the deterioration of motorway infrastructure (especially bridges) across Europe, mainly because it's been a very big story in Germany. Quite often motorway bridges were built with a 'design life' of 30 years and much of it is now way past that sell-by date. Now we have the horrible case of the motorway bridge collapse in Genoa.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/aug/14/genoa-motorway-bridge-collapses-italy
I have no idea what its 'design life' was put at when it was completed in 1967, but I really hope that this will at least cause a less cavalier approach to just letting bridges like that carry on and on. Not that I think such bridges should be rebuilt or that the length of the motorway network is acceptable in any way; I think much of it should be built back to normal roads and streets or removed altogether and what heavy traffic is necessary largely taken by a revived rail network instead.
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Buildings and roads in southern Italy are at higher risk, and experts agree this is no coincidence. Construction firms, many of which colluded with the mafia for decades, used “unfortified cement” – comprising a disproportionate amount of sand and water, and very little concrete. Profit for every pylon or kilometre of road was guaranteed, but over time these roads and bridges began to fall apart.
!
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Whoever wrote that has it entirely the wrong way round.
Concrete comprises sand, crushed aggregates, water & cement, (and possibly an additive package).The cost of the cement is normally the overwhelming factor in the cost of the concrete. The ability of concrete manufacturers to cheat is dependent upon the adequacy of the QA system, endless block samples, on site and at concrete batching plants.
Dodgy south europe concrete is nothing new
https://thesefootballtimes.co/2016/10/20/jesus-gil-and-the-story-of-spanish-footballs-own-donald-trump/ -
Ha, you're quite right, missed that. They swapped the two words around.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLwf4_bXOc0
This is a pretty well reasoned look at what might have caused it. He speculates that the design of the bridge itself was a major factor: it has very few stays which makes maintenance hard, bridges aren't built like this any more. Plus extraordinary load on the bridge: high traffic over a holiday period and extreme weather.All guesswork really until a proper engineers report is done but it's an interesting video.
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Ah, cheers, I'm sure there'll be a kernel of truth to this. I'll watch it now.
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This just in--it's hard to imagine a more disastrous project.
If this gets off the drawing-board, it needs to see the return of road protesting.
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Wish I were here on the 8th so I could go to this:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/talk-jam-for-the-rich-registration-51566768593
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Good old EU still thinking it can meddle in Britain's sovereign chosen path:
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This belongs here ... underground roads are roads, too.
I realise that at present this is an overhyped nothing, but the plans to build tunnels under cities are real in many cities, including London. The idea is to ensure a future for individual car traffic which cities realise requires more capacity than can be provided above ground/shouldn't be accommodated above ground at all any more. I think this is profoundly misguided and stupid. Obviously, travel by public transport underground sets a non-reversible precedent, but I think people should be able to travel overground as much as possible. What's ideal for accommodation underground is freight, and that would take a huge load off city streets. Not all freight could be accommodated in this way, but a much more reliable and environmentally-friendly delivery network could quite easily be built using existing, proven technology. There is no need for the kind of rubbish presented in the article linked to below.
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Saw the link first, pulse went up to 180. Then read the text and this:
There is no need for the kind of rubbish presented in the article linked to below
... and now my heart rate is normalising again. Phew. Yes, it is so stupid. As someone on Reddit put it: "Congrats, you've reinvented underground mass transit, without the 'mass'."
And I'm trying real hard not to get started on a rant about Musk.
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About
Road-building
Posted by
@Oliver Schick
We're back to where we were in the late 80s. More roads don't solve traffic problems, they only create worse ones.
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/dec/01/government-invest-15bn-roads-strategy-tunnel-stonehenge
Edit: A good summary of the issues around road-building and other unsustainable transport policies is here:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/sep/01/build-environmental-crisis-infrastructure-pandemic-concrete