Promenade - Megathread

[Andy Onchan]

On 2/20/2021 at 2:27 PM, Happier diner said:

That's not necessarily true. It's a pension scheme. It's the committments that are the concern, not the day to day payments. Currently as far as I know it's self funding.

The fund runs out some time this year doesn't it? Thereafter it'll come from the current account?

[Numbnuts]

2 hours ago, NoTail said:

Just talking this morning to the guys relaying the stones at the bottom of Broadway. They say that at first they were laid onto concrete and sand. 'They' changed their minds and insisted that they must be changed to just sand.

I am no road engineer but that sounds a bit odd. More likely to subside if laid on sand imo. Perhaps Numbnuts has better information. 

Well compacted ground then around 50 mm sand compacted is normal or was when I did it. Problem is if the sand varies in depth over the area which over time will settle differently . Not heard about Broadway recently. When you say relaying have they put them down , lifted then due to whatever and putting them down again ? Strange if true as that would indicate they didnt lay to spec in the first place .

[TheTeapot]

17 minutes ago, Numbnuts said:

Strange if true as that would indicate they didnt lay to spec in the first place .

Or they did, but the spec was bullshit.

[Numbnuts]

15 minutes ago, TheTeapot said:

Or they did, but the spec was bullshit.

Happier Diner posted above what is pretty standard spec and has been for years. Any block paviour guy would know what should happen. More likely from what I've seen recently around Marina road is different gangs doing different stages and not the ones doing the laying . Always likely to go wrong. Also question marks , again ,over supervision on the job. The ones years ago I worked on had a dedicated Clerk of the works who would oversee all stages . Government in there wisdom did away with them yearss ago .

Edited February 22, 2021 by Numbnuts

[TheTeapot]

2 minutes ago, Numbnuts said:

Happier Diner posted above what is pretty standard spec and has been for years. Any block paviour guy would know what should happen. More likely from what I've seen recently around Marina road is different gangs doing different stages and not the ones doing the laying . Always likely to go wrong. Also question marks , again ,over suoervision on the job. The ones years ago I worked on had a dedicated Clerk of the works who woukd oversee all stages . Government in there wisdom did away with them yearss ago .

Standard spec it may be, but this is the prom, where Burroughs specced to pour concrete right up to the rails. I wouldn't trust anything after that.

[Numbnuts]

6 minutes ago, TheTeapot said:

Standard spec it may be, but this is the prom, where Burroughs specced to pour concrete right up to the rails. I wouldn't trust anything after that.

No I would agree with you over Burroughs role in lots thats happened . And on the rail laying there's at least 3 but probably 4 variants on how they have done it since the start and its still being f***** up .

[NoTail]

1 hour ago, Numbnuts said:

Well compacted ground then around 50 mm sand compacted is normal or was when I did it. Problem is if the sand varies in depth over the area which over time will settle differently . Not heard about Broadway recently. When you say relaying have they put them down , lifted then due to whatever and putting them down again ? Strange if true as that would indicate they didnt lay to spec in the first place .

Hi Numbnuts

We walk the prom most days. About a week ago we were watching them take up the stones. When I spoke to the guys putting them back down today that's what they said.  In fact I only spoke to them to see if they thought the prom would get finished by end of July.  That did make them laugh.

[monasqueen]

Sounds like a load of cobble(r)s.

[Boris Johnson]

A few years ago I was involved in the start of a new housing estate. It had brick paving on the estate roads. The "Roads For Adoption" or whatever it is called gov spec for public roads said you had to have, IIRC about 100mm of base tarmac then 50mm sand then the brick paving, no thinner than 80mm.

I was told that the tarmac layer was added to the spec because brick roads had been sinking badly when developers were just putting sand over rubbish hadcore. Looked good for a couple of years then sunk. I am surprised the prom does not have tarmac under the bricks.

[finlo]

9 minutes ago, Boris Johnson said:

A few years ago I was involved in the start of a new housing estate. It had brick paving on the estate roads. The "Roads For Adoption" or whatever it is called gov spec for public roads said you had to have, IIRC about 100mm of base tarmac then 50mm sand then the brick paving, no thinner than 80mm.

I was told that the tarmac layer was added to the spec because brick roads had been sinking badly when developers were just putting sand over rubbish hadcore. Looked good for a couple of years then sunk. I am surprised the prom does not have tarmac under the bricks.

It's having a lifetime of future repairs preinstalled!

[Happier diner]

5 hours ago, Andy Onchan said:

The fund runs out some time this year doesn't it? Thereafter it'll come from the current account?

I don't think so. The fund grows as the number of contributors goes up. Staff make bigger % contributions. It's still in deficit but that's not an issue unless everyone retired in the next couple of years. Pension schemes work this way. It's still a concern but if government keep increasing contributions and reducing benefits it will eventually level out. That's the theory anyway. 

[Happier diner]

3 minutes ago, finlo said:

It's having a lifetime of future repairs preinstalled!

It's a future proof boost to the economy and employment. 

[Boris Johnson]

33 minutes ago, Happier diner said:

I don't think so. The fund grows as the number of contributors goes up. Staff make bigger % contributions. It's still in deficit but that's not an issue unless everyone retired in the next couple of years. Pension schemes work this way. It's still a concern but if government keep increasing contributions and reducing benefits it will eventually level out. That's the theory anyway. 

If you are talking about gov pensions there is no fund, its unfunded. Current pensions are paid from current payments from current staff and the shortfall is made up by general taxation money. The make up bit from general tax  is going to get bigger and bigger every year is what I understand.

[Happier diner]

15 hours ago, Boris Johnson said:

If you are talking about gov pensions there is no fund, its unfunded. Current pensions are paid from current payments from current staff and the shortfall is made up by general taxation money. The make up bit from general tax  is going to get bigger and bigger every year is what I understand.

I honestly don't think that's correct but I stand to be corrected. This information must be available somewhere

[Non-Believer]

With thanks to @The Teapot for originally posting, left column, para 4 tells lots.

Bearing in mind that those "employee contributions" also come from Govt because they're coming from Govt payroll.