Residents contacted me recently following reports that the completion of the work to improve the flood defences on Riverside Drive was possibly going to be delayed by passing trains causing vibration that was stopping the cement from setting properly.
To get clarification of the extent of the issue, I contacted the City Engineer who has made clear to me that this is “a minor localised construction issue” and adds :
“At this particular location the traffic is currently running on the temporary lane and there is slight dip in the road and when traffic travels over this, some vibration can be felt through the carriageway. Slow-setting traditional lime mortars are being used to construct the wall and the vibration was causing some minor localised issues with the mortar. No additional shoring or special engineering measures were required to overcome this, merely ensuring the mortar had sufficiently cured prior to adding subsequent courses of stone.
Overall, this section of work is slightly behind programme but nothing to do with this, mainly due to the Contractors resources, outputs and adverse weather. Just to reiterate this was a minor issue that has nothing to do with trains travelling above. For information, it is anticipated that the traffic management will be removed from Riverside Drive by the end of January 2018.”
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