Pontcysyllte Aqueduct

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  • #164989

    Ioan y Ffin
    Participant

    In the recent inquest, the Coroner “Mr Gittins said he was uneasy that an annual “push/pull” test – which sees force exerted on the posts by inspectors – could lead to inconsistencies in information.

    The coroner also expressed concern that signage alone did not provide adequate warning of risk. A gap in the railings of 195 millimetres was larger than current British standards of 110m.

    This was a particular issue if people deliberately intended to cross to the outer edge of the aqueduct like Mr McDowell, the coroner said.”

    Perhaps it is time to close the walkway across the aqueduct to individual walkers and only allow people to cross as part of escorted groups after an appropriate risk assessment of each person? Perhaps that is the best way we could mark the 10th anniversary of this engineering masterpiece, designed by brilliant minds and an incredibly brave and surefooted workforce.

    #164993

    IMHO
    Participant

    [quote quote=164989]In the recent inquest, the Coroner “Mr Gittins said he was uneasy that an annual “push/pull” test – which sees force exerted on the posts by inspectors – could lead to inconsistencies in information.

    The coroner also expressed concern that signage alone did not provide adequate warning of risk. A gap in the railings of 195 millimetres was larger than current British standards of 110m.

    This was a particular issue if people deliberately intended to cross to the outer edge of the aqueduct like Mr McDowell, the coroner said.”

    Perhaps it is time to close the walkway across the aqueduct to individual walkers and only allow people to cross as part of escorted groups after an appropriate risk assessment of each person? Perhaps that is the best way we could mark the 10th anniversary of this engineering masterpiece, designed by brilliant minds and an incredibly brave and surefooted workforce.
    [/quote]

    Your tongue was firmly in your cheek when you typed that, wasn’t it? Yes, of course it was :)

    #165044

    katy
    Participant

    When the push/pull tests were being carried out by the Chuckle Brothers everything was fine; they never tired of the whole push/pull routine from the very first railing to the very last. Since the sad death of Barry Chuckle they have had to hire a new team who get bored after the first 20 railings, so the quality of the inspections has suffered.

    I don’t know what Thomas Telford was thinking when he had 195mm gaps – surely he could have predicted that 2019 regulations would demand 110mm gaps. Maybe this is why he was never knighted yet Nick Clegg was.

    Regardless of what the gap between the railings is, there is always the possibility that someone could jump over the railings not realising this is a bad thing to do. Even worse, on the other side there are no railings at all. What if someone decides to jump off one of the boats thinking there is solid ground on the other side. Or maybe someone jumping from the path over the trough and hoping to balance on the trough edge – without a railing to grab onto this becomes a serious health and safety issue.

    Clearly what is needed is for the whole aqueduct to be enclosed in a cage. In case anyone decides to climb on to cage it will need to be covered in razor wire and monitored with 24 hour CTV, and regular dog patrols to deter anyone from attempting cut through the razor wire.

    Or maybe we should just knock down the whole thing and have a bus replacement service running from Fron to Llangollen. Much safer.

    #165045

    Matt
    Participant

    Only in this country’s ridiculous Health and Safety environment would an absolute masterpiece of architecture & engineering listed as an UNESCO World Heritage Site be criticised over some industry standards because some idiot might end up killing themselves.

    The fault is not in the structure – it’s in the human beings involved in utter stupidity. That’s Darwin in action. I know let’s smoke 2 spliffs, impair judgement then try and Spider-Man the outside of the Aqueduct.

    What next ban stairs in public places because some people might take them 2 at a time & slip & fall?

    #165073

    WreX-iT
    Participant

    Fill in the canal in case anybody falls in the water.
    Build platforms on scaffolding either side to walk along and a big safety net at the bottom.

    UNESCO had a problem with some dildo falling off a pyramid so they are putting up anti-prick devices.

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