+1. Been there, done that, got the video... six inches between you and a sheer drop!
I actually scared myself on one of the other viaducts up there where I hopped off to take a 'photo and nearly tripped over something. A no walking sign. At which point I realised I was lots-of-feet-up on a flat surface with no rails...
Andy
Back in the -80s I cycled across it - sort of. Had to start off at the end of the exposed bit but the bike I was on 'shook its head' at v. low speed, so I never did let go of the rail. A quick estimate convinced me that, with the combined height of the towpath and me on a 26"-framed bike, the wrong sort of fall could cause an unwanted interaction with the far edge - and get water in the bearings!
They probably thought we'd all be working five-hour weeks in paperless offices and going everywhere by hovercar and wouldn't need bridges in the future.
Nick
I've walked the footpath/towpath on that one.
I was happy, my brother on the other hand has trouble with heights.
"Bridges made redundant as Jet-pack use become widespread."
However in the 1980s there was discussion about whether it would make its centenary in 1990 - or more than a few years after.
Then not that long ago it was claimed the new paint job would keep it surviving for an indefinite future.
Wonder what the stories behind the scenes were/are?
In message , "Dave Plowman (News)" writes
Probably the Treasury :-)
Corrosion on the individual wires which make up the main cables.
Not as far up as the top of the towers of the Forth Road Bridge!!
Which one?
Presumably the Road Bridge?
That's the rail bridge isn't it? The end of the phrase "like painting the Forth (rail) Bridge" when refering to jobs that will never end.
That'll be the road bridge. I thought they had sort of solved that by fitting aircon/heaters/forced ventilation to reduce the corrosion rate to a much lower level.
When it was built, fifty years seemed an awfully long time away...
All that did was extend the life slightly. It's going to be replaced.
Tell me about it. I remember visiting the building site on a school outing.
Corrosion was a serious problem in the first Severn Bridge.
Due, I'm told, to the builders cvffvat into the box sections before they were sealed off.
Which reminds me of a visit to HMS Brecon whilst she was under construction. The whole thing was made of GRP, and there were prominent signs everywhere reminding everyone that cvffvat anywhere on the vessel was strictly forbidden.
Well, they'll be building a new one, but the old road bridge will still be in _limited_ use. (Or so I read in the papers last week.)
Another one is due to be built, but, like the Severn Crossing, there may well end up being 2 bridges.
In the early '80s my then GF lived next to a chap who was a civil engineer for British Rail. He told me that structures were designed for a 100-year life with no major maintenance, because any major work was very expensive (lack of diversion routes, I suppose).
On Sunday 10 March 2013 01:06 Dave Plowman (News) wrote in uk.d-i-y:
Sir John Fowler and Sir Benjamin Baker's skeletons must be cackling in their graves...
On Sunday 10 March 2013 01:53 Sam Plusnet wrote in uk.d-i-y:
cvffvat?
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.