Bridge Management of what is probably UK's most strategic structure has failed.
Its a one off unique structure, how can it not have been throughly investigated.. How can the potential failure mechanisms not have been fully explored? How can they claim to have come across the crack by accident. Can only be the structure is not being managed properly.
The bridge is clearly giving up under the loading it is anticipated to carry.. there is no earthquake, flood or explosion involved. If managed properly, the load bearing elements would due checked to ensure they are performing, particularly if the superstructure is susceptible to fatigue. There should be no way that a critical defect can be allowed to develop. So it must be concluded that the bridge inspections being carried out were not being done properly.
Whose doing the inspections? Answer Connectplus, a consortium of UK and Europe's major and contractors and consultants. Not only are they responsible for the inspections, they are responsible for managing the conclusion of those inspections. I suspect the dramatic closure has more to do with their combined intolerance of risk. Had the public body highways agency not sold their responsibilities they could have kept control of the risk management. This is the role of the public body, balancing the risk and mitigating with available budget. Connectplus cannot be pragmatic.
Again British Journalism has shown its total ignorance accepting the press statements of the bridge managers without question. Why aren't they asking:
How much has been spent on the bridges inspection regime in the last 6 years?
What are the written conclusions of the inspection? Do they identify the cracks?
either, the inspections were a waste of money. or their conclusions were ignored... or more likely the inspection conclusion was simply not understood but whoever received them.
Can connectplus honestly say that if Hammersmith hadn't happened they would have inspected for these cracks. It is a major coincidence that a 'random' inspection was carried out shortly after Hammersmith had its problems. SO another question:
How many critical defects are not being identified because they are not on a high profile olympic route?
For connect plus ignorance is arrogance. Roads Minister Mike Penning again is reeled out assuring us that everything is under control. What does he base this confidence on? Is he as ill informed and acceptingly gullible as the press?
More questions:
Why has the government done so little to progress a national bridge inspector programme?
Why does no-one correlate the growing shortage of decent engineers with the growing occurrence of these failures?
Why is there not a single journalist capable of understanding basic structural mechanics?
Sure when the M$ opens on thursday, it will be like nothing happened...guillible people!
No comments:
Post a Comment