HS2

[martin_wynne]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn03jrj1keno

 

[MidlandRed]

1 hour ago, corneliuslundie said:

But I am afraid that the Environmental Statement will simply be saying what the expected audience wants to hear. The whole subject is extremely subjective. This is not meant to insult those who write them, but rather to remind us that they are usually written from a particular political (with a small p) viewpoint.

You suggest this with your comment "creating significant project delay which may have cost vastly more to resolve". This is more or less admitting that the money spent on "environmental" issues is to avoid political backlash rather than for firm practical environmental reasons. Sorry, but I am not convinced that in this case it was wise use of the finds being borrowed for the project.

Jonathan

I think you’re being disrespectful to the technical and professional people who put these things together. It’s a big task - and as I previously stated, the document’s purpose is to discharge legislative requirements - if people don’t think it does they can comment (and if it’s found the document is wanting in this respect, there could be a requirement to rectify this, with consequent changes to the project and delay). Political pondering is outside of this although the comments and responses to the document (all of which are available in the same area as the link) may well include input with political involvement (eg formally from local authorities) - although the responses will almost certainly be provided by professional staff. 
 

As I say - technical process - as with engineering design, members of the public often have views and behave as if everything’s subjective - it very often isn’t and you’ll find members of the public doing things like presenting views which conflict, for instance with the laws of physics. Or suggesting solutions to their perception of the problem being resolved by the design, their perception of the problem being entirely incorrect (and so, as a result is their proposed solution). There is a vast difference between professional design and construction activities and the public’s view. This is why large projects have professional communication teams which strive to support the interface between the project and the public and political interests. 

[corneliuslundie]

I am not being disrespectful to the technical and professional people. I worked with such people throughout my career.

But the basic brief is always "political" - not party political but coming from a particular starting point.

And I also do not believe that environmental "science" is an exact science; in fact it is very subjective as there are often conflicting requirements or desires and decisions which outcome to propose are necessarily therefore subjective.

But I can see that we are not going to agree on this so it is best that we move onand get back to the work on the ground (or under it of course).

Jonathan

[Ron Ron Ron]

The planners and environmental teams thought it was OK to plow a cutting through a prominent woodland hilltop, to truncate some ancient Iron Age dyke and made other balanced judgements on similar locations, but required such mitigation as to require a very expensive pair of long, cut and cover tunnels, underneath 1. the mixed use, vague remnants of a disused WW2 airfield and 2. a stretch of open farming land.

 

OK, fair enough, I shouldn’t comment any further and I freely admit I’m not suitably informed on whether the system has worked properly in these cases.

I'll go back to watching GB News and reading my Daily Mail.

 

.

[jamie92208]

8 hours ago, Ron Ron Ron said:

The planners and environmental teams thought it was OK to plow a cutting through a prominent woodland hilltop, to truncate some ancient Iron Age dyke and made other balanced judgements on similar locations, but required such mitigation as to require a very expensive pair of long, cut and cover tunnels, underneath 1. the mixed use, vague remnants of a disused WW2 airfield and 2. a stretch of open farming land.

 

OK, fair enough, I shouldn’t comment any further and I freely admit I’m not suitably informed on whether the system has worked properly in these cases.

I'll go back to watching GB News and reading my Daily Mail.

 

.

There may be some answers buried in the Hansard reports of the committee stage hearings in parliament but life's too short. 

 

Jamie

[melmerby]

18 hours ago, Ron Ron Ron said:

I'll go back to watching GB News and reading my Daily Mail.

How to lose your credibility in one sentence😄

[KeithMacdonald]

4 hours ago, melmerby said:

How to lose your credibility in one sentence😄

 

Do tell, what would you consider to be credible sources that do not attract cynical scorn?

[corneliuslundie]

Well, none are perfect but those two are certainly at the far end of the credibility scale. I used to think that if the daily wail published something true it had made a mistake.

Jonathan

[melmerby]

1 hour ago, KeithMacdonald said:

 

Do tell, what would you consider to be credible sources that do not attract cynical scorn?

Don't do funnies then?

 

I assumed it was a bit of self deprecation.

Edited May 2 by melmerby

[corneliuslundie]

Here is a view which makes most of us seem very moderate in our views:

https://countrysquire.co.uk/2019/10/26/end-hs2-the-countryside-vandal/

It came up in a discussion on graffiti on GWR 800 class units. which includes several times the letters CSV

Jonathan

[melmerby]

10 hours ago, corneliuslundie said:

Here is a view which makes most of us seem very moderate in our views:

https://countrysquire.co.uk/2019/10/26/end-hs2-the-countryside-vandal/

It came up in a discussion on graffiti on GWR 800 class units. which includes several times the letters CSV

Jonathan

I notice it's 5 years old.

It also rolls out the same old discredited twaddle, especially the

Quote

HS2 is a nature-destroying, cash-burning monument to a bygone age of transport.

I suppose the twit that wrote that goes everywhere in a "modern technology" gas guzzling Range Rover.

[Ron Ron Ron]

 

 

 

 

 

.

[Ron Ron Ron]

 

 

 

 

 

.

[Ron Ron Ron]

HS2 Work to the north of Calvert and E-W Rail.

 

This drone footage heads south, towards the site of the HS2 Calvert infrastructure depot.

Just before the screen goes black at 2min 42 secs, you can see the E-W Rail bridge over the HS2 formation, in the near distance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

.

[jamie92208]

And this one shows the progress north of the Thame Valley viaduct.  Quite a lot of the trackbed is becoming clear and the viaduct is coming on well. 

 

Jamir

[Ron Ron Ron]

Old Oak Common, from the Bank holiday W/E just gone......

 

Notice building work taking place for the new GWML Elizabeth Line / Relief line platforms.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

.

 

 

 

[Ron Ron Ron]

The next "green tunnel" to be built, will be at Wendover (in the Chilterns).

 

 

 

 

The first bit, crosses under this road......

 

 

 

The temporary diversion route.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

.

[jamie92208]

Four of the TBM's have phoned home.  Caroline abpnd Sushia are both going at around 15m per day and Sushila has passed the 60% mark.  At  that rate there is approx 7months to tcompletion.  Emily and Anne are still in early   stages. 

 

 

Jamie

[Bernard Lamb]

 A hint this morning that the government is going to provide £1B of public money for the route into Euston.

Private funding has not worked out and without the Euston section the financial case, in respect of VFM, is dead in the water.

How will they spin that one?

Bernard

[Ron Ron Ron]

 

 

 

 

 

 

.

[melmerby]

1 hour ago, Bernard Lamb said:

 A hint this morning that the government is going to provide £1B of public money for the route into Euston.

Private funding has not worked out and without the Euston section the financial case, in respect of VFM, is dead in the water.

How will they spin that one?

Bernard

https://www.newcivilengineer.com/latest/hs2-government-expected-to-announce-over-1bn-funding-for-euston-tunnels-08-05-2024/

[jamie92208]

2 hours ago, Bernard Lamb said:

 A hint this morning that the government is going to provide £1B of public money for the route into Euston.

Private funding has not worked out and without the Euston section the financial case, in respect of VFM, is dead in the water.

How will they spin that one?

Bernard

Considering that the TBM's are bought and paid for as well as, I think, the lining segments there are only the overheads to run them that need paying for, they have probably spent more than that on the Logistics tennels and the TBM's etc. 

 

Jamie

[Ron Ron Ron]

The Euston tunnel TBM's are currently being made in Germany, for delivery in a few months time.

They are supposed to start lowering sections of the TBM's into the eastern end of the OOC station box and begin on-site assembly, towards the end of the year, with a launch in spring 2025.

[jamie92208]

I think I saw somewhere that they were goi g to have to drive the first 200 metres of tunnel anyway so that the tails would be clear of the station box, it would have been utterly foolish to then disband the tunnelling teams and mothball the machines. 

 

Jamie

[corneliuslundie]

"utterly foolish"

You mean something only a politician would do?

J