Unecessary lane closures

When I worked in Saudi Arabia, I saw a flyover being constructed by Koreans (South, I presume!) which was up and running in a matter of a few weeks. I don't know whether or not they worked all through the night but, by God, they worked!
That's because they were on tuppence an hour and grateful for the work
However, here, roads are always closed / restricted for no apparent reason.

I'm sure they were on low wages, as were other third world nationalities like Philippinos. But to them, they were being paid handsomely compared to what they'd get back home. That's why there are there.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting that our road workers should work for a pittance, just that they should work! Actually, I suspect the problem arises as much due to mismanagement as anything else.

I get the feeling that the bloke who digs the hole must not touch the cones and the guy who organises the cones must not touch the cable etc etc. So if one doesn't turn up, they're b*****d.
 
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I get the feeling that the bloke who digs the hole must not touch the cones and the guy who organises the cones must not touch the cable etc etc. So if one doesn't turn up, they're b*****d.

Sounds reminiscent of the very common practice in this country whereby one utility digs a hole and fills it in then, a few days later, a different utility comes along and does exactly the same in exactly the same place!
 
When the Highways Agency put out to tender a particular motorway job, they will agree a target deadline taking into account poor weather etc.

If the sun shines, a simple 4 week task to you and me will suddenly become a 10 week saga, hence why we see nothing being done for 6 weeks as the provider's navvies are in no rush to finish and are away working on another job elsewhere on the motorway.
 
We drove round the M60 today around midday. Cones for literally miles, no workers, no sign of work in progress, not even any machinery. Just miles of cones and a 50mph speed limit.

Why?
 
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They closed off junction 12 on I think the M60, this was the 4th set of roadworks on my journey, this one was the final straw that sent me off into the centre of Manchester and getting home at sillyoclock. :(
 
You have obviously forgotten the joy that was the extension of Barton bridge (then M63, now M60) in the mid - late 80's.



:evil:
 
Sounds reminiscent of the very common practice in this country whereby one utility digs a hole and fills it in then, a few days later, a different utility comes along and does exactly the same in exactly the same place!
A few years ago the council didn't just re-surface a road, near me,, they actually dug the road up and re-done it from scratch. Once completed it was a delight to drive along this smooth new stretch of road. Six months later one of the utility companies dug a 3ft wide trench (almost a mile long) Re-laying some service. Filled it in and re tarmacked it (with the usual predicable results) a couple of months later, yet another utility company dug another trench almost right alongside the previous trench, and filled this in with the now predictable results. So within a year the new road looked bloody worse than it did before it had been re-done.
Why , oh , why, can't the utility companies talk to each other and minimise disruption, ?? By working together, I'm sure many utility service works on our roads could be pulled in at the same time. Perhaps if these same companies had liaised with the council, their works could have been done in advance of the road getting dug up and re-done, so it would still be nice and smooth.. Better still, why can't they design services, like they do in the USA, where the services run under the pavements instead of the roads?
 
You have obviously forgotten the joy that was the extension of Barton bridge (then M63, now M60) in the mid - late 80's.



:evil:

Oh no I haven't. I remember when they added a third lane to the M63 exactly where I used to drive to work (and my first wife too, for that matter)*. They did this because the traffic was too heavy. A few years on and...

...yes, the traffic is too heavy again. Now they're talking about making the hard shoulder a 'rush hour lane' (if that's the correct term), and this will take until after my wife has retired.

They just can't think ahead, can they?

(* I remember things got so bad that I had to start driving all the way around the M63 in the opposite (anticlockwise) direction.)
 
Why , oh , why, can't the utility companies talk to each other and minimise disruption, ??

Because in this country everybody pulls in opposite directions. Just imagine what the country would be like if everyone pulled together.

Better still, why can't they design services, like they do in the USA, where the services run under the pavements instead of the roads?

I agree. I remember my dad saying that fifty years ago when they were digging up the main road near our house. I suppose the answer is that most of our services were put there in Victorian times (or not long afterwards) when roads were nowhere near as busy. Mind you, I'm sure it's not impossible to re-site them, but short-sighted councils and service providers prefer the cheapest possible option.
 
It would be a marvellous idea if all motorways could be widened so there would be three sets of three lanes plus hardshoulders to match.

This would mean that at any one time, one of the three lane sections could be "worked upon" by otherwise unemployed highway agency contractors whilst the rest of the human population went about its business unhindered on the other sets of lanes. :idea: :mrgreen:

I realise of course that this might cost jobs in the "temporary metal crash barrier" industry, but hey ho, maybe they could utilise their skills and materials and build something useful, such as boats and train carriages.
 
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Or two extra, separate lanes to be used by HGVs only, so that they can do all their 1mph overtaking all to themselves and not hold up every other b*gger.
 
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Or two extra, separate lanes to be used by HGVs only, so that they can do all their 1mph overtaking all to themselves and not hold up every other b*gger.
I've mentioned this before, but bring back the usage of canals for non-perishable goods.
 
Or two extra, separate lanes to be used by HGVs only, so that they can do all their 1mph overtaking all to themselves and not hold up every other b*gger.
I've mentioned this before, but bring back the usage of canals for non-perishable goods.

And fragile goods. At one time they used the Bridgewater Canal to transport things like crockery in preference, even to railways.
 
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