Hammersmith flyover closed due to structural defect
The flyover which forms part of a key route A4 out of west London has been shut due to a serious structural defect.
It was closed after engineers checking internal cables which help to hold the concrete structure in place noticed urgent repair work was needed.
Drivers have been urged to avoid the area and diversions are in place.
TfL said it was "urgently" examining local roadworks to see if they could be suspended to help minimise traffic disruption.
It said engineers and contractors, along with external experts in structural engineering, would be "working around the clock" over the Christmas and new year period to complete the assessment and decide what action needed to be taken.
Garrett Emmerson, TfL's chief operating officer for surface transport, said: "We are very sorry for the disruption this will cause drivers and we are doing everything we can to minimise traffic disruption."
He added: "In the meantime, drivers are strongly advised to avoid the area if they can or allow more time for their journeys."
Added
www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/media/newscentre/22169.aspx
Last edited by: henry k on Fri 23 Dec 11 at 13:45
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Chris Evans mentioned the closure a couple of times before 0800 this morning, he was upset at how little warning was given to drivers on the A4. At first it was put down to over-running overnight roadworks.
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Cables eh? Sounds like 'prestressed', so called. They don't want that going twang and foundering in rush hour on top of a busload of some deprived human category.
Going to be a bit of a nuisance to me as that junction, although not the flyover itself, is on my normal route in and out,,, M25 to M40 for the next month or so I guess...
Been racing over that flyover at ever-decreasing speeds since the fifties. Long may it survive.
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>>Chris Evans mentioned the closure a couple of times before 0800 this morning
>> At first it was put down to over-running overnight roadworks.
>>
SWMBO told me the same story about 05:00
>>Going to be a bit of a nuisance to me as that junction, although not the flyover itself, is on my normal route in and out,,, M25 to M40 for the next month or so I guess...
>>
I would suggest a major reroute way way around the whole area.
"In the afternoon tailbacks had reached up to five miles heading out of London, and about two miles going into the city."
So what will it be like in the rush hour??? Road rage X nnnn ?
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-16316283
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Great! I go under the flyover on my way to work. Let's hope they finish it over Xmas.
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They wont have and you wont be.
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Drivers had better steel themselves against the corrosive effects of tension and being pre-stressed.
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:-)
Tension and stress come with the territory.
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Traffic being diverted around via the RAB underneath. This is controlled by lights and is a nightmare at the best of times. So gridlocking by impatient drivers has happened and is inevitable.
They need to switch the things off and direct the flow with real humans with the intelligence to get things moving. Relying on cameras, controllers in nice chairs in front of big screens does not work, and courtesy of drivers is a hiding to nothing.
Local news last night. It took someone 3 hours to get to the flyover from Earls Court. Less than a mile away.
You could fly to the south of Spain in that time.
For those unfamiliar with this route, avoid at all costs if you are travelling in from the west into London during the holidays.
Oh and a merry Christmas from the Ecs family to one and all. ;-)
Last edited by: Mr. Ecs on Sat 24 Dec 11 at 15:19
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Quote form TfL spokesman 14th December
“Elements of the bridge, built in the 1960s, are being reinforced but the flyover remains open and safe to use. These works have been planned in close consultation with industry experts.”
seems they were wrong and the whistleblower was right
tinyurl.com/cup79ps
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To drivers tempted to block the yellow boxes on the gyratory under the flyover, don't. There are cameras. Hammersmith & Fulham will have a field day.
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Flyover closed for at least the first week of Jan.
Latest update
www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/media/newscentre/22190.aspx
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The TfL press release begs two questions:
1. They've been monitoring for 2 years and yet ahve only just discovered how bad the corrosion of the steel cables is?
2. Who would have thought that the steel cables might be vulnerable to rain and salt ingress from the road above???
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>> The TfL press release begs two questions:
>>
>> 1. They've been monitoring for 2 years and yet ahve only just discovered how bad
>> the corrosion of the steel cables is?
>> 2. Who would have thought that the steel cables might be vulnerable to rain and
>> salt ingress from the road above???
>>
Its probably the dead bodies that caused the corrosion... Story goes lots of people when missing around the time that was built.......
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>> Its probably the dead bodies that caused the corrosion... Story goes lots of people when
>> missing around the time that was built.......
And the elevated section of the M4 at Chiswick
And the westway.....
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...and the National Theatre.
It was a busy life, working as an enforcer for the 'buccaneers of modern capitalism', and sometimes involved a little heavy manual work.
Far neater I thought was recycling through a meat processing plant. Far less messy and everything used, profitably too of course. And it didn't lead to these rather shameful long-term structural problems in the capital's road systems.
But they didn't listen to me. I hadn't murdered enough people to be taken seriously.
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They've done nothing structural since this closure.
How about we demolish the thing, and fly in the construction workers who replaced road networks in 6 weeks when their earthquake struck last year. Something that would take us here a year or so.
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Nobody is capable of replacing a 600 metre long pre- stressed concrete viaduct in a congested urban environment in six months let alone six weeks. If the cables are severely corroded not convinced that it will actually be repairable. Not sure the severity of the problem has sunk in yet with the powers that be or they are just keeping a very low profile.
Last edited by: CGNorwich on Sun 1 Jan 12 at 15:57
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y
>> corroded not convinced that it will actually be repairable. Not sure the severity of the
>> problem has sunk in yet with the powers that be or they are just keeping
>> a very low profile.
Steel supports under it will keep it up for a while while they ponder the next move
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Yes they will keep it up for a while but at the end of the day could well be a demolition and replacement job. Not going to be good in the Olympic year especially when such a play was made on the ability of the infrastructure to be able to cope. Really feel sorry for anyone who has to make that journey on a daily basis whilst the flyover is out of action
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>>Really feel sorry for anyone who has to make that journey on a daily basis whilst the flyover is out of action
>>
It is suggested that folks use the M4. Some can divert to that but I suspect that too will jam up.
The jams were horrible before Christmas and it will probably be far worse as the big return to work builds up from tomorrow.
.
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Autocar report said
"That shut the overpass – where the A4 morphs into the M4"
I was not aware the Chiswick flyover was closed :-(
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I don't know what length of the flyover is involved and needs repair but the USA managed this 20 years ago. Maybe not comparing like with like?
During the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, which measured 6.9 on the moment magnitude scale, a 50-foot (15 m) section of the upper deck of the eastern truss portion of the bridge collapsed onto the deck below, indirectly causing one death at the point of collapse.[3][4] The bridge was closed for a month and one day as construction crews reconstructed the fallen section. It reopened on November 18, 1989
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If the UK authorities were prepared to pay for the resources for fast 24 hour working all our road works would take a fraction of the time. A few penalty clauses for late completion would not go amiss either. You get what you pay for. Five blokes and a shovel will take a long time to build any road.
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The Uk authorities don't pay - you and all your fellow taxpayers do. Its a matter of priorities. I guess that repairing or replacing the Hammersmith flyover will be a round the clock job and it will cost millions and millions .
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>> The Uk authorities don't pay - you and all your fellow taxpayers do. >>
I suppose it is all down to priorities, our country and its infrastructure is way down the politicians list.
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There is something similar going on at the South end of the Alnwick by-pass, where a concrete flyover has been under repair for over a year and and has just been finished. This involved cracked and crumbling concrete and the investigation then revealed substandard reinforcing steel (Rebar?) and that has to be replaced as well. Naturally, the firm that built it in the first place has gone bust and scarpered leaving a very large bill I guess they can throw more men and material at the M4 problem and I'm not a betting man but it could be Easter before it is fully fixed.
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>
>> not a betting man but it could be Easter before it is fully fixed.
I doubt even then. A quick steel frame job will hold it up for two years while they ponder.
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>> I guess that repairing or replacing the Hammersmith flyover will be a round the clock job
I do hope so but am not holding my breath. Even with the Olympics coming it will be slooooow
>> and it will cost millions and millions .
>>
"The flyover was completed in 1962 and cost about £1.2m. "
Llots of details here
www.engineering-timelines.com/scripts/engineeringItem.asp?id=1164
I note that Wiki is bang up to date re closure etc.
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Its not going to be easy. Its a tricky high use urban area, not much room, diversions need to be in place and working, you have an open tube line in situ, over the busiest biggest roundabout you can imagine, and its over half a mile long.
Bares no comparison to just slinging up 15 metres of standard concrete deck with acres of room to work in.
Last edited by: Zero on Sun 1 Jan 12 at 18:49
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>> If the UK authorities were prepared to pay for the resources for fast 24 hour
>> working all our road works would take a fraction of the time.
24 hour working is common place
A few penalty
>> clauses for late completion would not go amiss either.
Also common place and much employed. Most new UK roads are now completed ahead of time with hefty bonus payments for same.
Last edited by: Zero on Sun 1 Jan 12 at 18:38
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>> 24 hour working is common place
>>
>>
I must have been thinking of the miles and miles of deserted cones and dozens of shut down road building plant I have seen.
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not been on the m25 then,
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>> not been on the m25 then,
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The south east has always had priority for the back door government subsidies, I am sure the Hammersmith flyover will get the no expense spared treatment. Bad location for major work though. The new road infrastructure for the replacement Forth Road Bridge will only take a year, the earthworks are well underway, as are the bridge foundations.
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The Hammersmith Flyover will remain closed another week at least - and Transport for London has said it cannot rule out it staying shut for months.
"We're not going to be able to open it this week," said Garrett Emmerson, TfL's director of strategy and policy.
BBC London had an item on at lunchtime.
The reporter was inside the flyover and the cables shown looked on an awful state.
I was expecting to see taut tight cables as often shown on bridge construction documentaries.
quite a few wires making up the cables were rusty and apparently detached.
The item started with the suggestion that it will be closed at least for the whole of January.
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I've been away and didn't see the news but I assume it was this item on the BBC website.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-16383555
>> I was expecting to see taut tight cables as often shown on bridge construction documentaries.
>> quite a few wires making up the cables were rusty and apparently detached.
Although on some prestressed bridges the cables are visible inside (or outside) the bridge, on this bridge the cables are buried within the concrete. That is what makes it difficult to determine the condition of the cables and the amount of deterioration.
In the video the cables are seen at about 15 seconds . It is not clear how much of the concrete has fallen off due to deterioration and how much has been removed to assess the condition of the cables. The ends that can be seen are not the cables but are reinforcing steel used to hold the cables in place. These may have been cut to aid the removal of the concrete.
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>>I assume it was this item on the BBC website.
>>www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-16383555
Yes this was the item but much shortened when I saw it.
>> In the video the cables are seen at about 15 seconds
Yes thats the key part of the clip.
>>The ends that can be seen are not the cables but are reinforcing steel used to hold the cables in place. These may have been cut to aid the removal of the concrete.
>>
On the big screen it looked to me like many strands of rusty poor condition cable going horizontally. Some appeared to be no longer tightly wound.
To my eyes I would have guessed some of the outer strands had rusted through and lifted off their inner core.
I cannot see that on the small image on the BBC website but I am no expert.
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>> On the big screen it looked to me like many strands of rusty poor condition
>> cable going horizontally. Some appeared to be no longer tightly wound.
>> To my eyes I would have guessed some of the outer strands had rusted through
>> and lifted off their inner core.
Oh dear! I hoped that wasn't the case. But feared it probably was.
So they now know there is some reduction in load carrying capacity but it is almost impossible to be sure of the extent.
Prepare for years of deliberations and repairs as there have been on the motorway viaducts around Birmingham.
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>>Oh dear! I hoped that wasn't the case. But feared it probably was.
>>
A new BBC item. Same clip but bigger image.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-16385659
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>> The south east has always had priority for the back door government subsidies,
Er, no. Scotland and the north is usually first in line for the money, compared to the taxes they pay.
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>>
>> >> The south east has always had priority for the back door government subsidies,
>>
>> Er, no. Scotland and the north is usually first in line for the money, compared
>> to the taxes they pay.
>>
And where is parliament, with its expenses bill, most government ministries, quangos, offices, consultants, and employees? Where are their taxpayer funded running costs and salaries spent?
Last edited by: Old Navy on Mon 2 Jan 12 at 17:59
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Cough!
Holyrood £414 million
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>> Cough!
>>
>> Holyrood £414 million
>>
A mere drop in the ocean of London costs. :-)
I don't envy anyone who has to go near Hammersmith at he best of times let alone now.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Mon 2 Jan 12 at 18:50
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That does make Wembley look expensive at £757m for something which is used less often than an MPs personal wallet.
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Don't forget the Olympic subsidy to the south east. :-)
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Wembley makes the Olympics look like a bargain:
Olympics Marshgate Lane; 80,000; £486m.
Arsenal Emirates Stadium; 60,361; £470m entire project cost.
Wembley; 90,000 for sporting events; £757m.
Edit: Mods can you please fix the Gunner's.
Last edited by: R.P. on Mon 2 Jan 12 at 19:05
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Makes Scotland look cheap. What a monumental waste of money.
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Guys
Wembley was privately funded. No public money.
Its since racked up about 100 million pounds in legal costs as Multiplex, the managing contractor has sued numerous sub contractors over price, performance and contractual adherence.
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>> Wembley was privately funded. No public money.
>>
WestLB is partly owned by the German state of NRW.
There was also financial support from The Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds TSB, Bank of Ireland and Banco Espírito Santo. Not sure about the last one but the first three have certainly stretched the definition of private funding.
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they were non state owned commercial banks when they loaned the money.
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Can't we get an EU grant ? Maybe if we then promise to drive on the right !
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>> on the flyover only?
>>
If we rebuilt a double decker fly-over, we could comit to that, sort of...
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The Hammersmith flyover: One of the greatest examples of stuff-you politics in modern times
www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2081722/The-Hammersmith-flyover-One-greatest-examples-stuff-politics-modern-times.html?ito=feeds-newsxml
Some expert information from engineers
www.nce.co.uk/news/structures/heavy-duty-repairs-planned-for-closed-hammersmith-flyover-ahead-of-olympics/8624347.article
........."which revealed that they were in a far worse condition than previously thought.
“We discovered there was a steel duct full of water at the pier head and as a result some of the prestressed cables were completely severed,”
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"The Mayor of London's office has said it will know in a week whether the Hammersmith Flyover in west London can be reopened to traffic while critical repairs are carried out to strengthen it.
It gave assurances that the A4 route would be in full working order by the time the Olympics start on 27 July.
BBC London Travel presenter Billy Reeves said that serious congestion stretched as far as Wimbledon, Putney, Barnes, Chiswick and Tibbet's Corner on Thursday evening and Friday morning,
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I shouldn't really be saying this publicly, but I've gone round the Hammersmith gyratory below the flyover every day this week and it has been quieter than normal.
Maybe all the schools aren't back yet? Maybe everyone is scared witless of going anywhere near? Maybe I'll be eating my words next week?
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>> Maybe all the schools aren't back yet? Maybe everyone is scared witless of going anywhere
>> near? Maybe I'll be eating my words next week?
London is still very quiet, quite possible some still on extended hols.
Certainly no Uni students; Gower St was a breeze this morning.
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Having had my suggestion that the thing be demolished and Japanese engineers build a replacement smartish, poo pooed, may I throw another solution into the mix.
Close the slip roads onto and from the roundabout on the A4 and construct 2 temporary steel bridges. Single line going around the flyover, left and right. Carrying London and Westbound traffic only on the A4. This would ease congestion and allow the workers to get on repairing the concrete flyover. Possibly assembled by the Royal Engineers in quick time.
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>> I shouldn't really be saying this publicly, but I've gone round the Hammersmith gyratory below
>> the flyover every day this week and it has been quieter than normal.
>> Maybe I'll be eating my words next week?
>>
Time to eat my words.
They have obvioulsy re-phased the lights so that the queues on the A4 are shorter at the expense of traffic on the side roads (including me). Oh well, it wasn't bad while it lasted.
TfL say that it "Will be open in time for Olympics". What they mean is they will open it for the Olympics with weight restrictions so that they can have their Zil lane from Heathrow. It will be closed again shortly after for an indeterminate time. You wait and see. Or I'll eat my words.
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As has been the case now, the queues are terrible, and not being sorted out. They need to shut the lights off. Keep the pedestrian ones on. And use people with common sense to control the traffic flow instead on the ground. Otherwise BB you, me and many others will have to endure this mess for several months to come.
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The Hammersmith Flyover in west London, which has been closed for three weeks, will reopen on Friday.
Once new cables are installed, the flyover will be be reopened to all traffic "well ahead of the London 2012 Games", said TfL.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-16540112
www.nce.co.uk/news/transport/race-is-on-to-repair-ailing-hammersmith-flyover/8624694.article
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One lane opened in each direction from 04:30 GMT - but the road remains closed to HGVs and coaches.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-16540112
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Hammersmith flyover closed until at least earlyJan - Dave_
