13 August (Part 1) - “A Tyranny of Experts” in Bexley and Hong Kong
Once again I am not moving far from home with this little news item but if
you live in SE2 or DA17 you may have noticed that all four walkways over the
Harrow Manorway flyover have been closed for a week. The reason is difficult to
see, I have been there twice on most days and not seen anyone working on the flyover apart from a small gang who have
installed a barrier on what might be called the Sainsbury’s leg.
Bexley Council appears to be content to inflict the maximum possible
inconvenience on residents. Maybe they are awaiting the promised resurfacing
work. Five weeks ago the main man at Bexley Council said this…
“We are currently working on the flyover outside Abbey Wood station, final
adjustments are being made to the bridge joints prior to resurfacing of the route round about 23rd July.”
Nothing goes right does it? Not with the calibre of highway engineers we have in Bexley anyway.
Ever since work on the flyover commenced in March last year Bonkers has recorded progress. There are
in excess of 250 photos now so be patient while they load.
If you scroll down to February and March 2018 you can see lamp posts being
installed. The job was completed in April. (Try Photo No. 184 taken on 16th April).
If you look carefully at the LED lamp heads you may see that many are switched
on during daylight hours and that is the way it has been since they were
installed. Photo No. 237 being one of many examples. A bit of waste.
Bexley Council has given their reason.
They say, not unreasonably perhaps, that the narrow lanes have precluded access.
This ignores the fact that southbound traffic has been coned into the central area for the past two weeks.
When this was pointed out to the Highways Manager he said he will try to get the clocks adjusted “over the next few
weeks”. What did you expect? Urgent action on saving money?
Inside the
adjacent railway station you might see up to three Crossrail trains but by the look of the destination
indicators Woolwich station is no longer on the tube map.
The station, indeed the whole line, is being run by Mass Transit Railways based in Hong Kong under contract to TfL.
Was that a good choice? Not if you read the Chinese Press. Just Google for ‘MTR
Scandal’. By all accounts they installed 5,000 faulty steel bars in Chinese stations and
tunnels and both actually and metaphorically covered it all up. Anyone might think that Bexley
Council has been involved in the construction.
One must hope that Balfour Beatty are better at building stations and tunnels
than the “tyranny of experts” who manage MTR.
Will the first Elizabeth line train really run on 9th December?