Stonepark Posted August 30, 2017 Report Share Posted August 30, 2017 (edited) Just been over. http://i.imgur.com/DVBtcTw.jpg https://i.imgur.com/DVBtcTw_d.jpg?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&fidelity=low Edited August 30, 2017 by Stonepark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penelope Posted August 30, 2017 Report Share Posted August 30, 2017 So it's open now then. I saw it when I was up that way in July on the way to the NW highlands. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saddler Posted August 30, 2017 Report Share Posted August 30, 2017 (edited) So it's open now then. I saw it when I was up that way in July on the way to the NW highlands. Open for one day, then closed until the weekend, when folk chosen from a lottery draw get to walk over it Official opening by the Queen next week, then it's there for 120 years (allegedly) Way over budget & late on delivery = so another triumph for Nikola ETA: On such topics, the enquiry into the fiasco that is/was the new Edinburgh Trams network has not yet finished looking at the issues involved, and the plans have been announced that the extension to Leith (originally included in the main tramway network plans, partly built, then abandoned) IS to go ahead!! They reckon it will be about 3 to 5 years & turn the main Leith Walk road into a single carriageway for the duration! How to win friends & influence people!! Edited August 30, 2017 by saddler Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krugerandsmith Posted August 30, 2017 Report Share Posted August 30, 2017 Open for one day, then closed until the weekend, when folk chosen from a lottery draw get to walk over it Official opening by the Queen next week, then it's there for 120 years (allegedly) Way over budget & late on delivery = so another triumph for Nikola ETA: On such topics, the enquiry into the fiasco that is/was the new Edinburgh Trams network has not yet finished looking at the issues involved, and the plans have been announced that the extension to Leith (originally included in the main tramway network plans, partly built, then abandoned) IS to go ahead!! They reckon it will be about 3 to 5 years & turn the main Leith Walk road into a single carriageway for the duration! How to win friends & influence people!! Leith brings back memories Worked there in the early seventies .... It was like the Barbary coast... I Could write a book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miroku_fan Posted August 30, 2017 Report Share Posted August 30, 2017 Way over budget & late on delivery = so another triumph for Nikola Actually the new bridge came in at £245 million under budget. The delay was purely down to the adverse weather conditions out in the Firth of Forth. The new bridge should be celebrated for what it is, a phenomenal feat of engineering. It looks absolutely magnificent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVB Posted August 30, 2017 Report Share Posted August 30, 2017 Open for one day, then closed until the weekend, when folk chosen from a lottery draw get to walk over it Official opening by the Queen next week, then it's there for 120 years (allegedly) Way over budget & late on delivery = so another triumph for Nikola ETA: On such topics, the enquiry into the fiasco that is/was the new Edinburgh Trams network has not yet finished looking at the issues involved, and the plans have been announced that the extension to Leith (originally included in the main tramway network plans, partly built, then abandoned) IS to go ahead!! They reckon it will be about 3 to 5 years & turn the main Leith Walk road into a single carriageway for the duration! How to win friends & influence people!! Slightly off topic but I am in Edinburgh today and will be getting on a tram in an hour to go to the airport. How the mighty have fallen. When employed I would have got a cab and expensed it. Now running my own company it's whatever is the cheapest! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big bad lindz Posted August 30, 2017 Report Share Posted August 30, 2017 I will be fortuinate enough to be part of the flotilia of St Ayles Skiff rowing boats on Monday for the oficial opening by HRH. hopefully the weather will be kind to us Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saddler Posted August 30, 2017 Report Share Posted August 30, 2017 BBC TV News are stating the opening day of the bridge has been plagued with tailbacks & delay chaos.The full article has not been on yet, but very strange that the preview clip showed the 40mph signs still in place! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saddler Posted August 30, 2017 Report Share Posted August 30, 2017 Way over budget & late on delivery = so another triumph for Nikola Actually the new bridge came in at £245 million under budget. The delay was purely down to the adverse weather conditions out in the Firth of Forth. The new bridge should be celebrated for what it is, a phenomenal feat of engineering. It looks absolutely magnificent. Apologies....must have misheard the news earlier Was the £245M saving before or after the £1.3BN final total? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McSpredder Posted August 30, 2017 Report Share Posted August 30, 2017 Pretty good, for a 200 year old design. https://www.pressreader.com/uk/scottish-daily-mail/20170830/282192241121561 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billytheghillie Posted August 30, 2017 Report Share Posted August 30, 2017 pity it was built by Germans using Chinese Steel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pushkin Posted August 31, 2017 Report Share Posted August 31, 2017 Saddler Posted Yesterday, 06:26 PM BBC TV News are stating the opening day of the bridge has been plagued with tailbacks & delay chaos.The full article has not been on yet, but very strange that the preview clip showed the 40 mph signs still in place! And they will do for a short proving period and then will go up to 70 mph - hope it isn't too long eh? Pushkin Quote MultiQuote Repo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uilleachan Posted August 31, 2017 Report Share Posted August 31, 2017 Apologies....must have misheard the news earlier Was the £245M saving before or after the £1.3BN final total? £1.3BN was the cost, which was £245M less than the original £1.55BN budget estimate. It is likely that the savings were for the best part the budget contingency but that contingency is unlikely to have been as high as 18%, 10% seems more likely so yes, I'd say this is a real saving likely in the region of £115M (the remaining £130M being the contingency. So there's a bit of self appointed positive PR spin on the headline saving but I'm minded to forgive them. 40mph signs in place and rising by increment up to 70mph to condition motorists to the layout, regular commuters having been restricted to 40mph for the last few years. Delays and tailbacks, the crossing experienced much higher than average traffic all day yesterday, according to the radio traffic reports, apparently people were traveling from as far afield as the English midlands, to cross it on it's opening day and there were reports of traffic slowing to take in the view. There were al;so the usual breakdowns. In the next few weeks the novelty'll wear off and things will speed up to full motorway norms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grrclark Posted August 31, 2017 Report Share Posted August 31, 2017 The new bridge was way busier at 6am yesterday and when i got back at 10pm was still going strong. A lot of the problem was extra people wanting to cross it for novelty value and then circling around to do it in the other direction, sometimes many times. The sightseeing traffic became a huge issues as they came off the bridge and around the roundabouts at either end and that started to cause tailbacks on the arterial feeder routes onto the bridgeheads. The main through traffic before and after the bridge was then doubled up on the bridge itself as not enough people were leaving the bridge system as they kept going around. The cars flying the saltires and honking horns was a bit pathetic, sadly the new bridge has been appropriated as something of a trophy by the nationalists. I confess that I struggle to understand the desire to drive over the bridge on day 1 being so great to make a special pilgramage. It's not particularly exciting to drive over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saddler Posted August 31, 2017 Report Share Posted August 31, 2017 The cars flying the saltires and honking horns was a bit pathetic, sadly the new bridge has been appropriated as something of a trophy by the nationalists. I confess that I struggle to understand the desire to drive over the bridge on day 1 being so great to make a special pilgramage. It's not particularly exciting to drive over. ...yeah, but you were doing it sober! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red-dot Posted August 31, 2017 Report Share Posted August 31, 2017 Indian and Chinese steel, Austrian cement, Norwegian aggregates, american and spanish main companies, one british contractor. Only 16% of the matierials were british. I hear calls for it to be called the SNP Bridge! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uilleachan Posted August 31, 2017 Report Share Posted August 31, 2017 It's not the SNP bridge, it's the bridge Labour didn't want. Tories identified the requirement and wanted to build it under PFI in 1995, Labour objected on the grounds that it opposed PFI and under pressure from their labour mates in Edinburgh council who wanted the money for the trams. When Labour came to office in 1997, they booted it into the long grass. Early naughties corrosion problems on the existing bridge were identified but the lib lab coalition still didn't bite. Love them or hate them the Nats bit the bullet and started the ball rolling in 2007, first spade hit the ground in 2011. I've heard it called a vanity project, I've heard it said it's unneeded. I've also heard it said that the sum to build it; could keep the Scottish public in big organic hand made willow wicker baskets, to adorn the front of our green solar power assisted butchers bikes. Those people obviously don't get out much... My priorities would be the A9 duelling and A82 upgrades, but it's all academic without a bridge crossing the forth, or the M74 extension to the western M8 without having to drive to Stirling or the M8/M73 junction connecting me south. In my view this bridge wasn't just needed, it was needed desperately. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robkat Posted August 31, 2017 Report Share Posted August 31, 2017 Aye Labour would not fund it, but the only "politician" interviewed by the Bad Broadcasting Company was Gordon Brown. He who refused funding in the first place. Go figure. But do something else might have involved giving some credit to the SNP Government. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miroku_fan Posted August 31, 2017 Report Share Posted August 31, 2017 I think the important point here is that the new bridge was bought and paid for by the Scottish Government. It has been delivered considerably under budget unlike the Edinburgh trams. It is an essential part of our infrustructure. What is there not to like? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uilleachan Posted August 31, 2017 Report Share Posted August 31, 2017 (edited) I think the important point here is that the new bridge was bought and paid for by the Scottish Government. It has been delivered considerably under budget unlike the Edinburgh trams. It is an essential part of our infrustructure. What is there not to like? ^ Exactly. Where's the like button? Edited August 31, 2017 by Uilleachan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigbob Posted August 31, 2017 Report Share Posted August 31, 2017 A badly much needed road to the highlands only slightly late due to weather they allowed 15 days to take the crane down off the north tower and due to the wind it took 65 days , well under budget and the wind wont affect it so it should never close any breakdowns etc should be put on the hard shoulder and allow the traffic to continue crossing .And although it was his area Brown wasnt for it but Alex salmon started the ball rolling in fact .He was only first minister for less than a month and he dropped the tolls on the old bridge , The delays on the first day where put down to a extra 10,000 folk crossing it thats the bit i cant believe Anoraks getting up at 2 am to cross it or folk causing folk trying to get to there work a hours plus delay to go back and forward over the bridge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stagboy Posted August 31, 2017 Report Share Posted August 31, 2017 I think the important point here is that the new bridge was bought and paid for by the Scottish Government. Was it really? Scotland's deficit is running at a Greek-style 9 per cent of GDP (or 8.5 per cent if you include geographic share of North Sea Oil). This compares with 2.4 per cent for the UK. The fact is that England (more specifically London and the South East) is underwriting public spending in Scotland. (Great engineering feat, nonetheless). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigbob Posted August 31, 2017 Report Share Posted August 31, 2017 Anyway while they had the machine that made the channel tunnel why did they no just put a tunnel under the Forth it would never been closed to weather Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gustaff Posted August 31, 2017 Report Share Posted August 31, 2017 two tunnel machines dug tunnel both costed into job of channel tunnel turned sideways when they met and concreted in as costed too much to bring out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miroku_fan Posted August 31, 2017 Report Share Posted August 31, 2017 Was it really? Scotland's deficit is running at a Greek-style 9 per cent of GDP (or 8.5 per cent if you include geographic share of North Sea Oil). This compares with 2.4 per cent for the UK. The fact is that England (more specifically London and the South East) is underwriting public spending in Scotland. (Great engineering feat, nonetheless). It has long been acknowledged that there are two distinct economies at work in the UK. The prosperous London and South East economy has gone from strength to strength largely down to the financial sector and preferential investment by the UK Government. Then there is the rest of the UK. You are right when say that London and the SE is underwriting much of the public spending in Scotland. What you failed to mention is that the rest of the UK also treat London as a cash cow. This distribution of wealth across the UK is only possible if the London economy stays strong. It will be interesting to see what happens to the London economy, with it's great reliance on the banking and finance sector, post Brexit. If the London economy flounders then the entire UK will be in dire straights financially. It is a wonder that London and the South East has not declared a Unilateral Declaration of Independence from the rest of the UK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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