CityCyclingEdinburgh was launched on the 27th of October 2009 as "an experiment".
IT’S TRUE!
CCE is 17years 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.
“so might be wrong“
Unlikely - at least by a factor that would make much difference
So, main issue seems to be ‘old thing, don’t mess with it’
Might be a good idea to ban current traffic ‘just in case’
Then add some lightweight track and batteries to remove need for overhead structures
Would there be any issues with there being rooms and vaults and things (or nothing, where it crosses the Cowgate) underneath the bridge? Is there enough depth for enough concrete beneath the rails, and enough space for any pipes and stuff at the side, if they have to be moved (if not moved twice, as on Leith Walk)?
Apart from the underground car park at Tollcross and the railway tunnels around the WAR junction, is there anything much beneath Lothian Road/Earl Grey St which would object to being trammed over?
This was a note relating to the Herald piece, & covers a galamaufry of issues so I'll drop my notes here first & then add further comments, based on a career that saw me rebuilding a railway station age 16 as a volunteer, whilst my future boss (John Grimshaw) was building a new railway line, including the ONLY railway spiral in the UK to gain height, with boys from Westminster School, blowing up rock to create the railway route ... in 1968
With some great help from @arellcat dipping in to the RGS records & more we've also tracked the folly of the delivery of the first attempt at the tram tracks from Haymarket to York Place, which had to be rebuilt before it opened, with the delivery of the new electric railway between Edinburgh & Glasgow getting 16 miles of new track completed faster than the 7 miles of tram track to the airport!
"I've worked on delivery of cycle routes, & building new rail lines in a varied carer that started in 1964
During 1990's I was also working with the Panel for Historical Engineering Works who did a detailed study of Dean Bridge with further work connected to the unbuilt 1890's project to build 2 rail lines under Princes Street. Using the system proven in 1963 to build Oxford Circus Station whilst traffic continued to flow over the top on Oxford Street & Regent Street
Dean Bridge already carries trucks & buses with 9-10 Ton axle loads (trams have 8-9 Ton axle loads which are spread evenly through the rails (unlike tyre loads which are point loads on the flexible tarmac pavement. Below the road surface on Dean Bridge are evenly spaced masonry ribs that fit over the stone arch rings, and the tram track rails should be placed to transfer the loads properly to Telford's well designed structure in an elegant light solution much as his Tay Bridge in Perth uses holes through the arch spandrels
The trams should use a single laced track across the bridge alternately, which is easily delivered with a regulated & guided system
On the South end, where the rock bed rises from the Water of Leith Gorge the tram route should dive under Queensferry Street to connect with the tunnel under Princes Street & Shandwick Place with extra track(s) to enable tram services to be regulated or turned back to suit the timetables
This underground chamber can have a planned spur going South along the middle of Lothian Road, the traditional place for trams for over a century
DM for developing this as a wider piece with outline plans & profiles
Looking at the broken up concrete of the track slabs running from Haymarket to Waverley Bridge you can record the failed load transfer joints & patched up repairs, with lumps of the upper slab sunken or sticking up to bring down a cyclist, or the street ironwork (valve covers etc) sinking & falling away from the tarmac flexible pavement everywhere
I walked the route with Broughton Spurtle a few years ago and recorded the state of the track
Essentially to build the Tram track some 200 years of compaction of the supporting ground was destroyed as the sub grade was excavated to expose the weak & wet soils (glacial till lying over fractured (& saturated) shale for much of this distance
Manchester's tram route extensions had clear ground stability testing & allowances for remediation built in to the project with bearing strength & vane tests (soil cohesion) before the concrete was laid
Obviously much more to debate & discuss for a stage-gate plan for future tram projects
Remember also that running trams on heavy rail track can trip up over the steel tyre profiles of trams being very different to those on trains, and modified track (points & crossings) is required if they are sharing the same rails
Happy to discuss but be aware that I'm seriously resource poor & need some IT & admin support to keep up with PM's etc
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