from twitter:
"Tram cable down at the tram stop at York Place. Avoid that route if possible as the route to town side of York Place is closed and traffic severely backing up down Leith Walk and London Road."
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from twitter:
"Tram cable down at the tram stop at York Place. Avoid that route if possible as the route to town side of York Place is closed and traffic severely backing up down Leith Walk and London Road."
Ouch, hope it wasn't a clean break. Lots of tension on the cable and if it was that'll have been a hell of a ping when it went.
I'll go for a snoop
“I'll go for a snoop”
Ah, at first I took that to be a technical term - a variation on droop, perhaps...!
The wire snapped somewhere over the junction
Given at this point it is not a running wire, it should be easy enough to repair in situ with a joint.
"...cables above the stop on York Place came apart from the supporting pylons after a collision with a construction vehicle ..."
I hope we get a full investigation to find out if the cable was to blame for the collision.
It was already down to one lane eastbound when I went through at fourish, so there would only have been 2/3 of the potential chaos possible.
The trams company has very clearly laid down process for working around the OLE: http://edinburghtrams.com/community/working-around-trams
“
A spokesperson from Edinburgh Trams said: “We can confirm that part route running to and from Edinburgh Airport and West End (Shandwick Place) will continue until the end of service tonight (Thursday, 10 May).
“
So not able to isolate power to shorter sections?
There are no crossovers between Shandwick Place and York Place, so unless they're prepared to drive on the wrong side of the road they can't go any further.
Ah.
From an eyewitness-
“
Terrible mess up there. The York Place bus stop at the church was closed for roadworks anyway, and now there are works vehicles all over the tram bit. Loose cable visible, now anchored to the ground, but must have been dangerous when it snapped. Hope they get it fixed soon, this part of Edinburgh is feeling increasingly cut off what with all that mess up there.....
“
Apparently Nicola Sturgeon's down there now with a toolbox.
I hope the construction company are sufficiently insured to compensate Edinburgh Trams for the costs of repairing the damage and income lost through disruption.
The cause of the accident has been deemed to be insufficient situational awareness on the part of the cable.
I'm guessing it wasn't wearing hi-viz?
A vehicle with an extending boom left the site with the boom exceeding the 6 metre height of the OHL (knitting) Somehow oblivious to this the driver managed to carry on onto York Place with the results seen.
Given that all trucks & buses have to clearly display the vehicle height when TRAVELLING in the cab PLUS the requirement for the vehicle's movements to be especially controlled when the vehicle height exceeds 4.88m (the height above which bridge heights are not posted (as 16ft is the limit of the envelope for normal trucks & buses - double deck buses are 14'6" - maximum - a UK derogation most of mainland Europe has 4 m limit))
HSC will be looking closely at the St James's site gate controls & CDM documentation on dispatch of vehicles on to the public road - checking that vehicle is not overloaded or has load which is dangerously exceeding width, length or height limits for safe travel, & for variable height loads (eg excavators) the actual height is known & displayed to the driver, and the load is secured to prevent any jib or boom from rising up during the journey.
If, as I'd suspect this was a mobile cherry picker platform, travelling with the boom extended to over 6 metres, means no outriggers extended and pads down to keep the unit stable, and this is not a safe method of operation. If the wires hadn't yielded that truck would have toppled and the outcome might have been far worse.
HSC? CDM?
Construction (Design & Management) Regulations; and the Health & Safety Commission (the Health and Safety Executive is the enforcement authority for the Commission).
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