March 8th – At Telford, the piling for the footbridge project near the station is progressing apace, and the machinery in use is fascinating.
Holes are being bored, reinforcing assemblies being placed within and concrete pumped in. The depth of the bores is extraordinary, and an army of workers in orange wait for their moment to undertake their assigned tasks.
This is a hugely complex project which has surprised me – I can now see why it’s costing so much.
March 7th – The weather is much warmer now and I’m desperately looking for signs of a nascent spring, which aren’t very forthcoming yet but the daylight is really lengthening now.
On the cycleway at goscote, some lovely colour in the moss and lichen growing on the tree, which I think is probably dead – making me wonder if the moss killed the tree or is a result of the decay?
Whatever, it’s fascinating.
February 22nd – Passing through Telford on a flying visit in the morning, I noticed that the worksite for the new footbridge was oddly quiet. It seems test bores have been completed and are now being monitored for effects on the nearby built environment – including the railway itself.
Along the rails are mounted at intervals surveying datum targets which will be monitored – either manually, or by use of an automated theodolite – to see it recent operations are causing any movement.
A fascinating use of technology.
February 7th – A bitterly cold morning with temperatures recorded by the GPS as low as minus five degrees centigrade and a very harsh ride to the station.
There was a fair bit of black ice and concentration was intense.
My longed for spring would seem to be on hold a little, but hopefully the daffodils – now forming buds on the verge outside my destination in Telford- won’t be deterred.
February 6th – I noticed this interesting steed in the usual customer bike shed in Telford today, a Nukeproof mountain bike. It’s interesting because it’s continuing the trend for almost fat bikes. An expensive steed, it’s fitted with some impressive components.
Fat bikes are in my opinion, preposterous; a bike designed for sand or gravel use, they have huge tyres and matching frame clearances, akin to motorbikes. I see the odd one bought by commuters, when used on normal roads with balloon-like knobbly tyres they must be really hard work. I see more on trails, where the riders look less ridiculous but still quite daft.
The almost fat bike is a bike with larger than normal tyre clearances and usually, larger tyres, but not as huge as a fat bike. They tend to have broader axles than normal, but conventional group sets in the drivetrain. This bike demonstrates that amply.
I can’t imagine this is much fun to commute on either – those rubbers will drag, and the gearing must be quite hard work with such a small chainring. I still can’t get used to drivetrains with front sprockets smaller than the rear. Fine in their place – the trail – but not on road.
I was troubled by the rather tight clearance between the fork brace and tyre tread: carry a solid object like a stout piece of branch up there and it’ll do some damage.
January 30th – Visiting Telford in the morning, the work on the new footbridge there is very serious now. A large continuous flight auger piling rig is drilling very deep piles to support the new structure, and concrete trucks line up to supply it as it works.
In front of the rig, the first pile is standing clear of the ground bounded by the blue sleeve, and on these solid foundations, the new bridge will stand.
Earth is being moved, surveyors measure the ground and excavators are busy. This is a project well underway know and will be worth keeping an eye on.
December 20th – Spotted in Telford on a very brief visit at the new footbridge project, this will only be of interest to those into civil engineering.
The absolute worst sheet metal piling job I’ve ever seen. Not the varying depths – that can be normal, and they’d but cut level afterward; but the sheets are designed to go in true and interlock.
Were they piling guys on the pop?
December 12th – Telford was stunning too; from the station which looked like a winter wonderland, to the old bridge now with one of the ramps to the Staples store removed to the cycleways which were packed ice and easily navigated on the studded tyres.
Only problem was many of the laurel trees that line the paths were weighted down to breaking point with snow and were hard to get past.
December 5th – A very dark, grey and overcast day without anything really to commend it.
And then, just when you think there’s no beauty, these little fellows on a roadside verge, clearly oblivious to the season.
I think they were there specifically to cheer me up…
December 5th – In Telford again, and the work on the footbridge replacement has taken an interesting turn. On the west-side steps, curling around the bridge pillar, a tortuous square spiral ramp is being built in scuffed and wood.
I assume this will be to take the place of the existing ramp, which must be in the way of the new structure, which is to be built closer in towards the station buildings.
That’s quite some ramp and it’ll be fun riding a bike up and down that…
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