"Built in Britain" - BBC2, Sunday

[Ramblin Rich]

I've not seen any mention of this elsewhere.

This is a 2-part series, the 1st part tonight dealt with some current projects including Crossrail & the 2nd Forth Road bridge, plus HS2 and Heathrow expansion. It also discussed the problems with infrastructure projects becoming obsolete by the time they are complete - the example being given of Kielder Water supposed to supply water to North-East steelworks, which were being closed by the time the reservoir was completed.

A lot of the program was discussing the need for new infrastructure as well as updating what already exists, plus the difficulty in deciding where to allocate funds/programs when the majority of the country's 'wealth' gets generated in London. The one statement emphasised the current skew in Britain - something along the lines of "are we going to end up with Britain having it's major city as London; or end up with London having a surrounding suburb called Britain?".

He also re-visited his childhood town - Ashtead in Surrey - to discuss how, despite vehement opposition to the M25 when planned, the people now wouldn't want to be without it. As he said, people do oppose change, but when change happens, they adapt to it & eventually find the best way of working with it.

My impression was that Evan had a good grasp of the topic & I enjoyed the program. It's definitely worth finding on i-player if possible.

 

Edit - link to BBC page

[Edwin_m]

I thought this was a very thought-provoking programme, obviously coming from a viewpoint favourable to infrastructure but finding some time to explore the downsides. For me the major gap was any consideration of the idea that new roads generate traffic and often therefore become counterproductive because the road system is just as congested as before (so little economic benefit) but more people are using it with more environmental downsides. This is a bit of a problem in conjunction with the view is taken that infrastructure can influence the economy as well as vice versa, and the idea of building infrastructure even if you are not quite sure what is needed - you are potentially building something which leads you to a position you don't want to be in.

[Glorious NSE]

For me the major gap was any consideration of the idea that new roads generate traffic and often therefore become counterproductive because the road system is just as congested as before (so little economic benefit) but more people are using it with more environmental downsides.

 

Although I guess looking at that the other way you could take an increase in traffic as an indicator of more economic activity - in which case it has done what it was meant to do...

[Debs.]

This week`s programme was well-worth a view, with as a bonus, quite a bit on railways (e.g the HS1 line and 'Old vs. New' signalling systems)

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk...tain_Episode_2/

[woodenhead]

Overall a very good couple of programmes, apart from the Olympics it does seem that the biggest and best infrastructure projects are all rail based, maybe they feature so highly because of their widespread impact, diversity and challenge to thread the cotton of a railway line through the eye of a London needle.

 

Never knew the Hull suspension bridge was a purely a vote winning folly or that a second Forth road bridge had begun construction, I also thought putting electric trunks underground was just a National Park feature but knowing that there is now a whole network under London was amazing.

 

It's programmes like this that can inspire new architects, engineers and builders, if we are to change the mindsets of many people it is positive programming that will begin that process not a procession of Jeremy Kyle, X-factor cheap infamy programming.