Promenade - Megathread

[doc.fixit]

Have they not heard of red tarmac? With little scatters of white Quartz if necessary. They'd still manage to mess that up I suppose.

[ellanvannin2010]

It sounds a complete load of horse shit, I would like to see the written hse requirement

If it is a requirement for pedestrians to be aware of a change in their environment then you would think it would be before you were going to be knocked down by the horse tram. I think if you stand on the “sienna “ concrete shoulder you would be hit by a passing tram.

[Non-Believer]

22 minutes ago, doc.fixit said:

Have they not heard of red tarmac? With little scatters of white Quartz if necessary. They'd still manage to mess that up I suppose.

If they do get a load of it and there's any left over perhaps they'd like to finish Parliament St in Ramsey...the orange/red stuff there is having to be patched with black stuff now.

Edited December 20, 2019 by Non-Believer
Typo

[doc.fixit]

Yup, almost everything they touch appears to be sub-standard.

[Derek Flint]

This is beyond the pale.

If there truly was a health and safety requirement, they wouldn’t have relaid the tram tracks in the middle of a a live highway.

I did question Chris Thomas about this on Twitter. He stated the DOI had ‘taken advice’ before deciding on that routeing. I did point out that bad advice isn’t actually a defence when someone gets run over. 

In a nutshell, I have never heard such utter bunkum. The setup they have built is inherently unsafe. 

[Non-Believer]

6 minutes ago, Derek Flint said:

In a nutshell, I have never heard such utter bunkum. The setup they have built is inherently unsafe. 

An "acquaintance" of mine within DOI claims that the prom job was already "big enough".

Then IL decided to "get involved" (quote) with his priority being the horsetrams before all else. At that point things started to slide and snowballed into the almighty pig's ear we have now.

I reckon 4 years and £40M.

[Nellie]

2 hours ago, Max Power said:

It seems that despite the 120 odd years of previous experience of running the trams with their rails in asphalt, some wise arse H&S bod trumped knowledge with the fact that there is a ’necessary health and safety requirement’ that ensures that pedestrians are aware of the change in their environment'. Hence cracked red concrete! How have we managed for all these years?

 

  http://www.iomtoday.co.im/article.cfm?id=52764&he’necessary health and safety requirement’ that ensures that pedestrians are aware of the change in their environment.adline=Douglas Promenade: Concrete tramway was most cost effective says Department of Infrastructure&sectionIs=NEWS&searchyear=2019

So, if there is even an ounce of truth in any of this, why is there an identical pink/red concrete strip down the middle of Loch Promenade where there aren't going to be any horse trams, as they'll be on the sea-side, by the wall?

Surely this will be even more confusing for pedestrians, as they stand in the middle of the road thinking "My environment has changed, there must be a horse tram around here somewhere?" just before they get knocked down by a bus!

It really is beyond a joke, how these buffoons at the DoI treat the media and public with ongoing contempt, trotting out (no pun intended) this never ending string of nonsense and lies.

 

[quilp]

So are passengers, pensioners especially, expected to step down 18" onto the road or sloping tarmac? Those levels need looking at. 

[Max Power]

56 minutes ago, Derek Flint said:

This is beyond the pale.

If there truly was a health and safety requirement, they wouldn’t have relaid the tram tracks in the middle of a a live highway.

I did question Chris Thomas about this on Twitter. He stated the DOI had ‘taken advice’ before deciding on that routeing. I did point out that bad advice isn’t actually a defence when someone gets run over. 

In a nutshell, I have never heard such utter bunkum. The setup they have built is inherently unsafe. 

 

44 minutes ago, Non-Believer said:

An "acquaintance" of mine within DOI claims that the prom job was already "big enough".

Then IL decided to "get involved" (quote) with his priority being the horsetrams before all else. At that point things started to slide and snowballed into the almighty pig's ear we have now.

I reckon 4 years and £40M.

 

39 minutes ago, Nellie said:

So, if there is even an ounce of truth in any of this, why is there an identical pink/red concrete strip down the middle of Loch Promenade where there aren't going to be any horse trams, as they'll be on the sea-side, by the wall?

Surely this will be even more confusing for pedestrians, as they stand in the middle of the road thinking "My environment has changed, there must be a horse tram around here somewhere?" just before they get knocked down by a bus!

It really is beyond a joke, how these buffoons at the DoI treat the media and public with ongoing contempt, trotting out (no pun intended) this never ending string of nonsense and lies.

 

 

28 minutes ago, quilp said:

So are passengers, pensioners especially, expected to step down 18" onto the road or sloping tarmac? Those levels need looking at. 

They blew their H&S credentials the minute that they decided to run the trams in their original position and not with a single track and kerb to help people step on and off! Much cheaper, safer, aesthetically pleasing and better for traffic, horses and pedestrians! 

[Numbnuts]

Apparently have it on good authority that as predicted by just about everyone , apart from DOI experts , the railings etc are no more . The power of the sea has rendered this outstanding design masterpiece to be no more ..Anyone post a up to date picture ??!! Anyone surprised ?? No didn't think so ..

[TheTeapot]

There' something on here about it

https://www.facebook.com/pg/isleofmanawareness/posts/

[display name]

Nothing about camera shake or Parkinson's though

[Nellie]

48 minutes ago, Numbnuts said:

Apparently have it on good authority that as predicted by just about everyone , apart from DOI experts , the railings etc are no more . The power of the sea has rendered this outstanding design masterpiece to be no more ..Anyone post a up to date picture ??!! Anyone surprised ?? No didn't think so ..

It’s untrue to say ‘they are no more’ but some of the bolts holding the vertical posts to the concrete have gone, and some are working loose. One section of horizontal rail is missing, and has been for several weeks, leaving a gap the size of a small child, with a drop of several feet beyond. As as result of the above, the whole thing is very wobbly and should be taped off as unsafe, until repairs are effected. I’ve recorded it as a fault on the DoI reporting service, but doubt anything will happen until w/c 6th January. 

It really is time, that Nick Black’s head was displayed on a spike, outside Ellerslie Depot. 

[Numbnuts]

8 minutes ago, Nellie said:

It’s untrue to say ‘they are no more’ but some of the bolts holding the vertical posts to the concrete have gone, and some are working loose. One section of horizontal rail is missing, and has been for several weeks, leaving a gap the size of a small child, with a drop of several feet beyond. As as result of the above, the whole thing is very wobbly and should be taped off as unsafe, until repairs are effected. I’ve recorded it as a fault on the DoI reporting service, but doubt anything will happen until w/c 6th January. 

It really is time, that Nick Black’s head was displayed on a spike, outside Ellerslie Depot. 

Accept your comments but mine was meant as a bigger picture as it's clear they will have to remove the whole assembly and start again as there not repairing or renewing it as clearly it's not suitable ..How many weeks has it been there ? 

Edited December 23, 2019 by Numbnuts

[Roger Mexico]

2 hours ago, The Orgozoid said:

OMG this has to be a joke surely?

They've won an award for fucking up the prom.

I can’t upload the link but it’s on IOMonline 

It is indeed, though it's in the 'taster' article, so that all it says is: It’s an award that might raise a few eyebrows among the residents and businesses who have endured the Prom redevelopment saga. Find out who’s praised the horse tram scheme.

This turns out to not actually be winning, but being Highly Commended in something called the 2019 Global Light Rail Awards which actually took place on 2 October (so you can see that IOM Newspapers are keeping up with their usual standards of topicality).  Specifically  the 'renovation' of "well-loved tourist icon, the Douglas Bay Horse Tramway" were the runners up in the Project of the Year Under €50m category. 

The winners were the Newcastle Light Railway in New South Wales, Australia, who were being rewarded for a project that had actually been completed (apparently both ahead of time[1] and under budget) rather than just sort of started and fannied about with.

To be kind to the awards organisers, the citation seems to be as much about relief that they were keeping the trams as anything else.  To be even kinder there may have only been two projects submitted, so runner-up means last.  Interestingly the shindig seems to have been a DoI-free zone, with "The award [being] collected by Alistair Burroughs of Isle of Man contractor Burroughs Stewart Associates".  Presumably they were either aware of how bad it would look or they were told they would have to pay something towards going.

 

[1]  There were quite a lot of delays at the planning stage - not itself a problem if they are used to get the strategy and details right rather than just throw hissy fits because you're not getting your own way - but construction of an entirely new line "commenced in September 2017 and the line was opened on 17 February 2019 ... Construction of the light rail was completed by the end of September 2018".  The line is slightly longer than the DBHT and includes six stations.  And surfboard racks.