tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76868463409565053.post4764601016228013008..comments2023-04-15T16:57:59.715+01:00Comments on Travelling the Cambridgeshire guided busway: County Council committee to debate busway defectsAndrew Bethunehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02711423177266767155noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76868463409565053.post-62976161004673401372014-10-09T08:35:12.989+01:002014-10-09T08:35:12.989+01:00According to the BBC, at the meeting referenced in...According to the BBC, at the meeting referenced in the original posting, "councillors voted unanimously to begin legal action against BAM Nuttall".<br /><br />http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-29523111Hugh Taylorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17801986113143054571noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76868463409565053.post-18724566093388485232014-10-07T16:18:45.919+01:002014-10-07T16:18:45.919+01:00The recommended option is for a 3-year programme o...The recommended option is for a 3-year programme of works to commence as soon as possible, at an estimated cost of £30m. Stretches of the busway would be completely closed (along, depending on location on the scope of works there, the adjacent cycleway) and buses diverted. Some foundations would be dug up and deepened.<br /><br />A major flaw in the guideway design is that longitudinal bracing cannot cope with the forces from buses braking and accelerating - which is what has caused the gaps between the beams to become uneven, causing them to butt together and crack at the ends.<br /><br />The (separate) widespread cracking along the surface - which has exceeded tolerances - will be filled with a resin.<br /><br />Altogether a huge engineering operation, which itself will entail risks - not least the risk that lifting the beams will cause further flexing and cracking.Stephen Lawrencehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00649392649827111837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76868463409565053.post-59496026083036732002014-10-02T17:44:35.774+01:002014-10-02T17:44:35.774+01:00Yes, some of the numbers are eye-watering, but the...Yes, some of the numbers are eye-watering, but they do refer to works over the 40pyear "lifetime" of the busway (eg £172m - and what happens after that?).<br /><br />I also notice a reference to "spalling" which I must follow up. I've been concerned about that.<br /><br />from para 4.2.1:-<br />Option B<br />... it involves monitoring foundations, but for the full 40 year design life of the Guideway, ... in respect of 141 foundation structures considered to be at high risk, including the 36 locations South of Histon where Capita considers foundations already to have failed,<br /><br />The evidence seems to be mounting that busways are expensive to build and maintain.Stephen Lawrencehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00649392649827111837noreply@blogger.com