Repairs to Menai Suspension Bridge

[mull]

Just been reading that the bridge will be restricted to a single lane with traffic lights starting September 4th and will go on until Spring 2025.

How much would it cost to open the railway line to Llangefni and run a shuttle DMU service between there and Bangor ?

 I am sure this would help ease any congestion because there seems little hope of a 3rd road crossing anytime soon.

[Hugo]

It might have been a good idea Mull except for the fact that the railway bridge in Llangefni was demolished when a lorry got stuck under the bridge a few years ago

https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/anglesey-railway-bridge-damaged-lorry-16114356

[mull]

I see the newspaper article is dated 2019. I wonder if Network Rail has persued the lorry owners insurance for the expense of removing the bridge and damage caused. I bet they have not, and this is happening all over the UK and costing Network Rail (us the tax payers ) for bad driving.

Why should Network Rail pay for this it is not their fault, it is the lorry drivers error ?

[Hugo]

I've had the same thoughts as you Mull.    Apart from the Bridge, we see it every where on a daily basis, stone walls knocked down by careless drivers, road safety barriers damaged etc etc.  but who pays for the cost of repair?
Craigside in Llandudno has had the stone walls damaged a number of times and the owner of the wall has complained about the cost of repairing the wall, but why should they have to pay to repair damage caused by someone else?
If it happened to me then I'd make sure that the motorist paid

I used to drive under that railway bridge at least once a week and it did have a warning sign about the height of the low bridge.   The odd thing about the bridge was that the main road went underneath it and it was on a hill.    Consequently the height restriction was different at each end of the bridge but I don't think that that was a factor in this instance it was just careless driving

[Ian]

It's an interesting area, especially for Solicitors. Swindon is warning lorry drivers they could lose their HGV licence if they clobber a bridge but it does seem a lot of drivers don't bother learning what their overall height is.

[mull]

I note the lorry trapped under the bridge was marked up as "Convoi Exceptionel".  This warns that it is conveying an exceptional load so they, firm and driver, should have surveyed the  and been aware of the vlow bridge. No excuse for this one but does anyone know who paid to clear up the damage.

[Hugo]

Mull,  the paragraph below from the link I've attached is what you expected but it's not morally correct for the taxpayers to fund damage caused by someone else
"Bridge strikes cost the taxpayer millions of pounds each year and can cause considerable disruption to the local community, so we would like to remind all drivers to check the height of their vehicles before passing under any bridges.



https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/anglesey-railway-bridge-damaged-lorry-16114356

[Hugo]

OOPS    See next post below

[Hugo]

Digger wedged under notorious North Wales low railway bridge
Despite numerous signs on the road and the words 'Low Bridge' written in large letters on the bridge itself, there have been several similar incidents

Perhaps the crane driver didn't see the low bridge notice?         


https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/digger-wedged-under-notorious-north-27676859
[/quote]

[SteveH]

He must have been asleep, you could hardly forget you were carrying a 30+ ton piece of equipment. 

[Hugo]

He should have gone to Specsavers if he could have seen the sign.    As Mull would quite rightly say " who pays for the damage "