CityCyclingEdinburgh was launched on the 27th of October 2009 as "an experiment".
IT’S TRUE!
CCE is 15years old!
Well done to ALL posters
It soon became useful and entertaining. There are regular posters, people who add useful info occasionally and plenty more who drop by to watch. That's fine. If you want to add news/comments it's easy to register and become a member.
RULES No personal insults. No swearing.
I reckon the Humber Bridge is the best of the lot: incredibly graceful.
I'm in awe of the engineers building these things though. I saw an engineer on the Humber Bridge pointing out that if you make the towers 'vertical' (i.e. at right angles to the surface of the earth), then they won't be parallel (because of the curvature of the earth), and their design took account of that.
I like the Humber bridge from when I was small as it was the nearest large bridge to us and it always seemed to be nice and misty when we crossed it, making it more loomsome. The FRB seemed poky in comparison when I came up here.
I assume some of the rationale for going cable-stayed for the new bridge was to avoid any possibility of cableflap and anchorage-worry in the future.
The Pont de Normandie is one hell of a bridge - the approach from the north is impressive and the gradient is quite startling.
For the record, I like the look of the new bridge, much more so than the FRB, which I've always found a bit "standard" really.
From a distance (for instance from near Linlithgow on the train and from the centre of Edinburgh), the new bridge catches the light quite wonderfully.
I think part of the problem is that it is too tall, or rather taller than the other two. It looks a bit out of proportion.
I propose adding bits to the existing bridges to make them bigger.
its looks ok on sunny afternoon
The British Governments foreign office showing how up to date their intelligence is...
http://www.thenational.scot/news/14938337.A_bridge_too_far__Crossing_confusion_for_Foreign_Office/
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Economy Secretary Keith Brown will ask an arbitration service to work with the lead contractor building the Queensferry Crossing, Transport Scotland and a construction union to investigate allegations of low pay on the £1.4 billion project.
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May:
Traffic is due to start using the £1.35 billion Queensferry Crossing – five months later than planned because of bad weather hampering construction.
It will be the largest triple-tower cable-stayed bridge in the world.
All but buses and taxis will transfer from the Forth Road Bridge, which is being replaced as the main cross-Forth artery because of concerns about the long-term strength of its corroded main cable.
The new bridge will be a motorway with hard shoulders, unlike its predecessor, which should help shorten disruption from breakdowns and crashes.
It will also include windshielding, so should never have to close because of strong winds.
However, the crossing will have two lanes each way like the Forth Road Bridge, so extra traffic attracted by its opening may generate increased congestion – and pressure for the older bridge to take some other vehicles, as well as public transport.
From:
http://www.scotsman.com/news/world/a-month-by-month-look-at-the-key-events-of-2017-1-4329737
Colour me absolutely shocked.
It was obvious from the start that there would be pressure to use the old bridge as an overflow under certain circumstances.
It's useful to have somewhere to pull over if you suffer a vehicular breakdown but I fail to see the logic in making it an isolated motorway in the middle of a normal dual carriageway system given the disruption caused to those categories of vehicles/drivers that will be forbidden to use it.
It's not issolated though. It connects to motorways at both ends, although the road into Edinburgh isn't one of them.
I can't tell from the roadworks and haven't looked at the plans to see if there will be direct slip access from the motorway to the old bridge or if all access will be via ferry toll and echline roundabouts.
OK so the new bridge and its extended roads connect to the motorway on the north side, but not the south; bax's diagram shows what I have not been able to figure out driving that way daily.
But it still means that those travelling to/from Fife and not allowed to use the motorway appear to be stymied because of a decision to make the new stuff motorway when it could just as well have been dual carriageway with the M90 starting where it currently does north of the bridge.
Has anyone yet seen a proposal on how learners etc are supposed to cross the river without diverting via Kincardine?
With of the bridge the road which goes off the bottom of Bax's's map is a motorway (M9 spur).
Learners have the choice of going via Kincardine or letting their supervisor take control for the crossing. Learner motorbikes may be an exception, but they have plenty other options to cross.
Bax, thanks for the map. It appears to confirm that the FRB access will be via junctions at either end. Reducing the chances of an early general traffic opening (and accidental crossings) but also reducing the speed of public transport.
I think I saw a news article in the last week about consulting on letting learners use motorways...
Robert
I think I saw a news article in the last week about consulting on letting learners use motorways...
Aye, but think the intention is only during lessons with qualified instructors and dual-controlled cars.
Arguably learner drivers shouldn't be 'flying solo' on dual carriageways either (e.g.. the FRB). Indeed, the rule used to be that learners ought not to drive on their own at all without a qualified driver or instructor in the passenger seat.....has that changed?
No - learners still need a qualified driver in the passenger seat. They also need to be at least 21 and to have had a license for at least three years.
The proposals for allowing learner drivers onto motorways are stricter though - it would basically only be allowed during formal driving lessons.
In principle, it must be a good idea to allow learners on motorways under strict supervision, otherwise of course they will be be able to use them after passing their test without having had any supervised training. How can it be enforced though that the practice should be as part of a formal lesson?
How can it be enforced though that the practice should be as part of a formal lesson?
Are you asking what the law would be, or how they would enforce it?
I think the proposed law is for learners to be allowed on motorways under the supervision of a qualified instructor (as opposed to pretty much anyone with a license), and only in cars with dual control pedals.
I'm asking how it can be enforced that a learner, driving on a motorway, is undergoing a formal lesson under the supervision of a qualified driving instructor, as opposed to just having your qualified relative/friend in the passenger seat. I've just remembered that there will also be a requirement for dual control, but that doesn't entirely invalidate my question.
School instructors, and those self employed, tend to use advertising boxes on their cars. So an L plated car without a phone number visible would be reasonable grounds for a stop and check by plod. Flash of an ADI badge and away, almost a good learning experience being pulled over.
When/where I was learning to drive the nearest motorway was about an hour away.
As Klaxon says, a car with stuck-on L plates will look mighty suspicious on a motorway.
@wingpig - some of us learned to drive an hour away from any dual carriageways, let alone motorways!
My vague memory of learning to drive in the mid 90s was that some test centres were shut down as they weren't close enough to any dual carriageways. The first stretch of the A1 was also left as excluded from the no Learners restriction so that the Joppa test centre could continue to use it.
Of course being 20 years ago these may just have been rumours going round a group of learners.
@acsimpson I think that must have been an urban myth - still plenty of places where you'd need to catch a ferry or drive for longer than a driving test duration to find a dual carriageway
https://stv.tv/news/west-central/260393-top-50-places-to-pass-driving-test-in-scotland-are-revealed/
Though this is worrying:
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/bookies-assistant-gets-driving-licence-3023064
From above
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Melanie Wood was desperate to drive her toddler daughter Ava about
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Of course it's unknown whether she has/would consider a bike with kidseat/trailer, but I suspect this is the normality for most people.
More people cycling should lead to better infrastructure which should lead to more people cycling...
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