http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Topic: Talking about setts en Thu, 21 May 2026 07:53:12 +0000 http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=12343#post-358189 Thu, 27 Jan 2022 17:44:54 +0000 Tulyar 358189@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>You might also note a much earlier system from c.1840 laid with an attractive colour contrast in split slate, with a well constructed road bed. It is not unpleasant to cycle on, &amp; has no appreciable settlement</p> <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/h52/49904577292/in/datetaken/" rel="nofollow">https://www.flickr.com/photos/h52/49904577292/in/datetaken/</a> </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=12343#post-358146 Tue, 25 Jan 2022 13:48:21 +0000 chdot 358146@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Some more history -</p> <p>“</p> <p> <a href="https://www.livingtransport.com/results.php?t=asset&amp;search=303&amp;content=The">A successful campaign against the removal of historic granite setts in Edinburgh's Royal Mile (1967)</a> </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=12343#post-357225 Mon, 29 Nov 2021 05:33:13 +0000 Tulyar 357225@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Which street?</p> <p>Crap pavement with huge joint gaps, and the 'mortar' wears away they will rock &amp; loosen. Typical of standards currently accepted in UK.</p> <p>Here's how it should look - c.170 years (1845/50-ish) &amp; self flushing gulley still works as designed with light rainfall shedding from main pavement - transverse simple bond/tight laid</p> <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/h52/51633263631/in/photolist-2kvWNKB-2mEDYQJ-2mEJmxx-2mEHjyP-2mEDYpi-2mptrd3-2mppGz5-2mptruv-2mptrv2-2mpuyao-23wQ68n" rel="nofollow">https://www.flickr.com/photos/h52/51633263631/in/photolist-2kvWNKB-2mEDYQJ-2mEJmxx-2mEHjyP-2mEDYpi-2mptrd3-2mppGz5-2mptruv-2mptrv2-2mpuyao-23wQ68n</a> </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=12343#post-357110 Wed, 24 Nov 2021 10:57:05 +0000 chdot 357110@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Royal Mile</p> <p>No idea what is planned</p> <p><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51702234239_55bc9f1c9c.jpg"> </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=12343#post-356748 Fri, 12 Nov 2021 15:52:20 +0000 gembo 356748@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>@crow, makes sense, see my earlier guess, one obsessed individual </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=12343#post-356746 Fri, 12 Nov 2021 15:33:57 +0000 crowriver 356746@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>I read somewhere that the guy complaining about "noisy" setts only moved in to the area a year ago. Presumably it was quiet then due to lockdown, now not so much. Apparently locals of longer standing are embarrassed by his antics. But "controversy" makes for good clickbait, so here we are... </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=12343#post-356733 Fri, 12 Nov 2021 11:44:15 +0000 gembo 356733@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Yes despite my obsession with short cars everyone else seems to want a massive car wit( massive wheels. Can these be good for the drivers? The setts? The shift workers? The planet?</p> <p>Don’t think so </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=12343#post-356730 Fri, 12 Nov 2021 09:18:28 +0000 chdot 356730@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Yes</p> <p>Plus</p> <p>More, bigger, cars (able to go faster over ‘rough’ surfaces) </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=12343#post-356726 Fri, 12 Nov 2021 08:57:51 +0000 gembo 356726@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>‘Sake. So Many words and no reference to home working.?</p> <p>Or one obsessed individual?</p> <p>Nothing has changed in comely bank.</p> <p>Has it?</p> <p>The main road to Waitrose remains the main road.</p> <p>The side streets have always been rat runs?</p> <p>The Covid closures that made the main drag a traffic free zone have long gone.</p> <p>So I suggest Working From Home has a. Allowed people to notice the noise more and b given them more time to complain about it? </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=12343#post-356723 Thu, 11 Nov 2021 23:14:42 +0000 chdot 356723@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p><a href="https://www.scotsman.com/news/opinion/columnists/a-real-sett-to-over-cobbles-on-the-city-streets-david-alexander-3451174" rel="nofollow">https://www.scotsman.com/news/opinion/columnists/a-real-sett-to-over-cobbles-on-the-city-streets-david-alexander-3451174</a> </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=12343#post-214545 Wed, 16 Mar 2016 23:05:30 +0000 kaputnik 214545@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p><em> If the heritage line gets trotted out in favour of setts, traffic lights and most other street furniture has been added more recently without affecting the number of tourist coaches. </em></p> <p>And gas lights too while we're at it. I'm all for going back to 19th century road surfaces where there is a real heritage value (Old Town, New Town for instance) so long as we do them properly and only allow 19th century transportation devices on them. Fortunately that includes mass cycling. All cars to not exceed 5mph and to have a servant walk infront waving a red flag and blowing a whistle.</p> <p>As much as I like Portobello as a place to visit, it's not the world heritage site and looks much like any other well heeled suburb of Edinburgh; a mix of Victoriana interspersed with everything that's come since. Its unique selling point really being that it's on the seaside, not that it has some setts. The Corstorphines and Murrayfields of this world have survived fine without setts and I'm sure Portobello will too. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=12343#post-214527 Wed, 16 Mar 2016 17:54:31 +0000 Tulyar 214527@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>The street around the corener from me was built over 160 years ago to a high specification of flsh top setts laid in a tight bond, with self clearing gullies at the sides.</p> <p>The setts would have been bedded on puddle clay or cold tar and may have had a cold tar seal painted on the joint faces as they were laid. </p> <p>It used to be a joy to see even in the lightest drizzle the water shedding into the gullies from the imperceptible camber of the road sadlt a few utilities dug up the road and have never been held to account. Then the centre of the carriageway began to sink, alonh the line of a major drain/sewer suggesting that leakage was weakening and leaching out the fine silt/clay the forms the subsoil covering the ingneous bedrock around here - but of course the pipe is Scottish Water, and although you can point out the damage and long term potential of massive costs of catastrophic failure the roads authority refuse to take any interest or action. </p> <p>Being proper flush top sets laid properly the road has lasted over 160 years with minimal maintenance and no potholes. Sadly Scottish Water did some work and they have wrecked a section by totally failing to rebuild the bedding layer and then laying the setts loose with no locking on a basic type 1 backfilling, which I suspect has no geotextile membrane to prevent the type 1 material migrating down into the clay with the loadings of traffic on the road (ie road sinks and continues to sink)</p> <p>Cockburn Street used to have some great flush top setts, and then someone with little awareness of the difference got the street totally relaid with cod-heritage blocks that were not flush cut. I used to manage Nicholson Sq to Waverley in 3 minutes, but net with the new non-authentic finish.</p> <p>One example of the screw ups that those with no understanding of how stone (and timber) block road building works was the relaying of the Bridges/High Street cross-toads about 25 years ago - when the setts were laid with the bond courses parallel to the Bridges IIRC. The road surface went everyway but flat and smooth as the original system of laying the courses to fit split the junction on the diagonals.</p> <p>Setts are often laid is a crude fast way with a loose bond, and the reduced accuracy of laying accommodated by brushing in a weak mortar mix. Of course this then weakens and allows blocks to rock and move around and you get the classic cobbled street lumpen ride. In a tight bond the blocks can only move up and down to accommodate movement, and the friction between abutting faces means that the surface behaves like a 'carpet' linked elements that can move a small amount but not massively between each abutting block. Effectively this delivers a road surface which spreads the loads without the deformation that can happen with a fully flexible pavement like tarmac, and also avoids the potential for irregular cracking and water ingress.</p> <p>The ideal urban road which almost conveys a 20mph speed limit by its appearance is one laid in tight bonded setts. As a compromise the use of setts to 'frame' rigid features such as drains and manholes in the road surface. The setts fit the rigid features without breaking away, but have some flexibility to allow the tarmac to move. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=12343#post-214369 Tue, 15 Mar 2016 19:55:14 +0000 mgj 214369@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>An astonishing waste of money. Thirlestane Road is an absolute state at the eastern end, and badly maintained setts are not suitable road surfaces to promote cycling. But then neither is badly maintained tarmac. If the heritage line gets trotted out in favour of setts, traffic lights and most other street furniture has been added more recently without affecting the number of tourist coaches. Do they really have suspension that cushions out those potholes? (actually, my DS does, but that's a different matter) </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=12343#post-214366 Tue, 15 Mar 2016 19:28:55 +0000 Snowy 214366@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Anyway, a million pounds set aside for repairs isn't much in the context of re-laying Brighton Place setts expected to cost £1.2 million. I'm sure the western half of Thirlestane Road cost £750,000 about 10 years ago...aabout 300 yards worth.</p> <p>Nice work if you can get it...I'm slightly baffled how it costs so much.</p> <p>I did a small calculation and Thirlestane Road was re-laid with about 10% fewer setts than it started with. Wonder where they went? </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=12343#post-214365 Tue, 15 Mar 2016 19:15:30 +0000 Snowy 214365@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>If they leave it long enough the cobbled streets might re-appear all by themselves. There are at least 5 patches on Marchmont Crescent where the setts are now visible underneath the disintegrating 2-inch tarmac covering. And a most impressive shell-crater yards from LaidBack's shop! </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=12343#post-214222 Mon, 14 Mar 2016 18:44:38 +0000 sallyhinch 214222@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>So -</p> <p>managing traffic to save lives, stop air pollution and generally increase the health of the population - too difficult</p> <p>managing traffic to save some historic cobble stones - no problem.</p> <p>Oh well, whatever it takes, I suppose </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=12343#post-214220 Mon, 14 Mar 2016 18:11:10 +0000 urchaidh 214220@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>This is going to cause some Porty residents to physically explode. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=12343#post-214219 Mon, 14 Mar 2016 18:03:59 +0000 chdot 214219@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>"</p> <p>1 MILLION funding pot has been set aside to help repair the Capital’s worn-down cobbles.</p> <p>Council bosses will carry out a city-wide survey of Edinburgh’s historic setts if new plans get the go-ahead – with hints that a traffic shake-up could follow if cars are shown to be putting too much pressure on roads.</p> <p>"</p> <p><a href="http://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/edinburgh-s-cobbled-streets-sett-for-1m-funding-boost-1-4068299" rel="nofollow">http://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/edinburgh-s-cobbled-streets-sett-for-1m-funding-boost-1-4068299</a> </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=12343#post-144835 Sat, 08 Mar 2014 13:39:47 +0000 chdot 144835@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/chdot/12887363154/"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7347/12887363154_ae8383ed86.jpg"></a><br /> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/chdot/12887363154/">Pavement cycling!</a> </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=12343#post-144546 Thu, 06 Mar 2014 11:31:17 +0000 chdot 144546@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Which CCE does from time to time. </p> <p>Setts not cobbles, firm foundations and epoxy fixing, etc. </p> <p>Can't find an on-line version of this -</p> <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/chdot/12967097594/"><img src="http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2352/12967097594_903a2c5782.jpg"></a></p> <p>But plenty to read -</p> <p><a href="http://www.ewht.org.uk/news/248/110/Tales-of-the-Month" rel="nofollow">http://www.ewht.org.uk/news/248/110/Tales-of-the-Month</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.buildingconservation.com/articles/setts/setts.htm" rel="nofollow">http://www.buildingconservation.com/articles/setts/setts.htm</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.international.icomos.org/quebec2008/cd/toindex/77_pdf/77-KoCo-73.pdf" rel="nofollow">http://www.international.icomos.org/quebec2008/cd/toindex/77_pdf/77-KoCo-73.pdf</a> </p>