I suppose that if you have a bridge that is almost 200 years old, not every builders’ merchant stocks spare parts. So if at some point you decide it has become so rickety and in need of repair it has to be taken out of use, you can't just order spare parts that arrived the next day. So I figured it probably would take a while before any actual repairs would start on the bridge! I guess you have to find people who can supply the materials you need, and then some clunky tendering process has to take place, and only after that is finished you can start the actual work. So I wasn't overly surprised that during my frequent bridge crossings I rarely saw anything happening there that pointed towards the problem being solved.
Then one day I saw some men in some cherry pickers and something was clearly happening! It was all on the west side of the bridge. Local media had been saying all along the problem was with the hangers. And they were doing something with these! During later crossings I saw what actually was going on; on that side of the bridge, they were attaching four steel cables around every hanger, attached to a custom made block below the anchoring point of the hanger. I could see the reasoning! If these steel cables temporarily take the weight of the bridge, the hangers can be replaced. And I could imagine that that is something they can do without disturbing the pedestrian traffic over the bridge!
I hope that this means things are moving now, and it won't be too long for the bridge to reopen. I am totally used to the situation as it is, but I am sure it will be even easier to get used to the situation as it was!
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| The first sign I saw of work |
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| A whole row of supported hangers |
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| Cables waiting for a block |
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| Some cables lying ready for work recommencing later |
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