Is the M1 the new Forth Bridge?

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Sun 9 Jun 2024 09:21
Is the M1 the new Forth Bridge? - daveyjp

As work never finishes!

After a very long period of not venturing south of Sheffield on the M1 I had to go to Watford on Friday.

Does anyone know when the M1 will actually be 'finished'?! Of the 180 miles I estimate about 25% is currently reduced lanes and 50mph restricted, all because of the mad decision to reduce the number of emergency refuge areas when the hard shoulder was removed. They are now being constructed due to safety concerns.

Anyone who uses this motorway regularly has my sympathy!

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Sun 9 Jun 2024 10:08
Is the M1 the new Forth Bridge? - FP

I recently used the M1 from J8 (very local to me) to J21a and, yes, a lot of it was a pain with miles of roadworks and speed restrictions. Added to which, it rained for the whole day.

I had booked a lunch in Newark and afterwards we continued north on the A1, falling foul of considerable delays caused by the bridge works north of Barnsdale Bar, which I should really have checked on after a similar scenario last November.

Returning south a few days later, we left my son's home in Leeds and stuck with the M1 until leaving at J31, heading past Worksop to join the A1 and thus avoiding the M1 roadworks further south as well as the bridge works on the A1.

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Sun 9 Jun 2024 11:53
Is the M1 the new Forth Bridge? - bathtub tom

Last time I used it, restrictions from J10 - J13. OK it was a 50MPH crawl, but journey time was barely any different. Thought about using the A1 for the return, but Potter's Bar appeared to be closed. Fuel consumption was improved!

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Mon 10 Jun 2024 12:13
Is the M1 the new Forth Bridge? - John F

Which one? The rail bridge is a superb piece of Victorian English engineering, far more impressive than Eiffel's contemporaneous Paris toy, and which is still fit for purpose after well over a century. However, the road bridge typifies much of Elizabethan engineering - costly, requiring much maintenance and repair and now unfit for anything but light traffic loads after only 50yrs of existence.

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Mon 10 Jun 2024 15:55
Is the M1 the new Forth Bridge? - edlithgow

Victorian English engineering?

OK, 2 out of the 3 lead engineers were English, (2 out of 4 if you count the approach works) so I suppose its arguable, but the steel, the main fabrication and construction contractors, and of course the location were not.

Edited by edlithgow on 11/06/2024 at 07:49

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Tue 11 Jun 2024 10:19
Is the M1 the new Forth Bridge? - edlithgow

Which one? The rail bridge is a superb piece of Victorian English engineering, far more impressive than Eiffel's contemporaneous Paris toy, and which is still fit for purpose after well over a century. However, the road bridge typifies much of Elizabethan engineering - costly, requiring much maintenance and repair and now unfit for anything but light traffic loads after only 50yrs of existence.

Not all contemporaneous Victorian English engineering was quite so good.

web.archive.org/web/20211225102502/http://taybridg...m

According to that site, despite the well-publicised design and construction failings, they re-used the surviving girders in the new structure, where they remain.

Thats a bit Scottish, surely?

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Mon 10 Jun 2024 13:02
Is the M1 the new Forth Bridge? - RichardW

The Forth Rail bridge has now been painted in off shore spec glass flake epoxy paint with at least a 20 years to maintenance life, so the apocryphal never ending painting has, in fact, ended.

Unlikely the same will be true of the M1 (or any other road) of course!

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Mon 10 Jun 2024 13:07
Is the M1 the new Forth Bridge? - Bromptonaut

I was on the M1 yesterday from the M62 junction to J16.

Very long 50 stretch south of Sheffield due to, as above, inserting additional refuges.

Same again after J16 but I missed that. Presumably all the way to MK.

I just set the speed limiter to 50 and got on with it. I doubt it added massively to my whole day's journey from East Kilbide - return from hols in Scotland.

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Tue 11 Jun 2024 08:58
Is the M1 the new Forth Bridge? - daveyjp

I was on the M1 yesterday from the M62 junction to J16.

Very long 50 stretch south of Sheffield due to, as above, inserting additional refuges.

Same again after J16 but I missed that. Presumably all the way to MK.

I just set the speed limiter to 50 and got on with it. I doubt it added massively to my whole day's journey from East Kilbide - return from hols in Scotland.


My issue isn't really the reduced speed limit.

Saturday evening it was v quiet, just set cruise and sit there, mpg was excellent! However at other times the reduced capacity and subsequent queuing traffic must be costing UK PLC millions. I'm looking now and the current slow traffic queue is from junction 28 to junction 30, about 14 miles and then another 10 miles around East Midlands airport.

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Tue 11 Jun 2024 11:37
Is the M1 the new Forth Bridge? - Bromptonaut

My issue isn't really the reduced speed limit.

Saturday evening it was v quiet, just set cruise and sit there, mpg was excellent! However at other times the reduced capacity and subsequent queuing traffic must be costing UK PLC millions. I'm looking now and the current slow traffic queue is from junction 28 to junction 30, about 14 miles and then another 10 miles around East Midlands airport.

I'm not convinced by the costing UK PLC millions argument.

There are 3 lanes open and the 50 limit should reduce bunching and concertina braking that otherwise occurs on busy sections. It also removes most of the frustration caused by poor lane discipline.

My Google maps were showing slower than usual traffic on Sunday but in practice we kept on moving. The 50 south of J15 while they were upgrading to all lane running seemed to run smoothly most of the time and I'm not sure real world point to point journey times are actually much affected.

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Tue 11 Jun 2024 07:32
Is the M1 the new Forth Bridge? - edlithgow

The Forth Rail bridge has now been painted in off shore spec glass flake epoxy paint with at least a 20 years to maintenance life, so the apocryphal never ending painting has, in fact, ended.

I suspect the structures visible at the end of this video exploring Inchgarvie Island (near the Forth Rail Bridge Southern piers) may be exposure test rigs for paint.(about 34 mins in)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=tigg_dCO8D8

I believe the island is supposed to be off-limits due to being a bird reserve, which would make it potentially an undisturbed test site.

I did once take my kayak out to the island and landed at the other end, but didn't get to the bridge end because I was parenoid about a possible patrol boat snooping around.

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