You Wait Ages For A Bus

Phill_dvsn · Post by **Phill_dvsn** » Mon 20 Aug, 2012 4:41 am

Leodian wrote: Hi somme1916I don't know how long the crane will be there. It is massive! I took a number of photos of it. Hi Leo, most likely the crane on the road is dismantling, or extending one of the luffing cranes already on site. You might find this video gives you a good idea how it's donehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VIcTDIpyKo&feature=relatedAnd if the tower crane needs to go higher than the mobile crane that's helping to build it, then the tower crane builds itself. It uses a sort of hoist attached to the outside of the crane, it lifts itself up and and inserts another upright section in place, this will give you an idea of that processhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qX-ZdPPUuhMI first saw them take a crane down around 1984 when I was working for John Laings building the new British Telecom building on Wellington Street (I think it's called West one now) I thought it was amazing how they did it.One of the crane erectors was telling me and my mate all about them. He said the tower cranes only had a short life before they were scrapped. I think he said they averaged about a 12 year lifespan and were condemned.As you can see on the video the cranes flex and twist a heck of a lot whilst lifting loads, they suffer a lot of metal fatigue quickly. Most likely the cranes made today will be better made and last longer than the ones 25 years ago perhaps.I'm glad I didn't see them erect the cranes two years earlier though, the jib you see the men working on the 2nd video collapsed and 2 men fell to their death. Those cranes defy all logic and laws of physics, how something so tall and flimsy can lift such heavy weights without falling over is amazing. You can see the crane actually sways a few feet from side at the top, the whole crane actually leans back on the counter balance whilst lifting.

somme1916 · Post by **somme1916** » Mon 20 Aug, 2012 9:37 am

Phill_dvsn wrote: Leodian wrote: Hi somme1916I don't know how long the crane will be there. It is massive! I took a number of photos of it. Hi Leo, most likely the crane on the road is dismantling, or extending one of the luffing cranes already on site. You might find this video gives you a good idea how it's donehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VIcTDIpyKo&feature=relatedAnd if the tower crane needs to go higher than the mobile crane that's help to build it, then the tower crane builds itself. It uses a sort of hoist attached to the outside of the crane, it lifts itself up and and inserts another upright section in place, this will give you an idea of that processhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qX-ZdPPUuhMI first saw them take a crane down around 1984 when I was working for John Laings building the new British Telecom building on Wellington Street (I think it's called West one now) I thought it was amazing how they did it.One of the crane erectors was telling me and my mate all about them. He said the tower cranes only had a short life before they were scrapped. I think he said they averaged about 12 a year lifespan and were condemned.As you can see on the video the cranes flex and twist a heck of a lot whilst lifting loads, they suffer a lot of metal fatigue quickly. Most likely the cranes made today will be better made and last longer than the ones 25 years ago perhaps.I'm glad I didn't see them erect the cranes two years earlier though, the jib you see the men working on the 2nd video collapsed and 2 men fell to their death. Those cranes defy all logic and laws of physics, how something so tall and flimsy can lift such heavy weights without falling over is amazing. You can see the crane actually sways a few feet from side at the top, the whole crane actually leans back on the counter balance whilst lifting. Thanks Phill, looking at it objectively,your take seems the correct one as the roof structures and heavy lifts all look to be in place now on the development.I spent over 30 years in the steel industry and became used to seeing similar cranes up and down the country,performing different types of lift.This looks like a(possibly 16 wheeler) Liebherr crane.....difficult to assess lift capacity,but it will be in the many tonnes with the emphasis being on lift extension to deal with the height in particular.The more modern cranes would incorporate more high tensile steel in the construction to allow for the stresses and strains.......there is most certainly a short working life on these contraptions which are regularly proof tested to ensure safety etc Regrettably,you do see the rare failure which just goes to prove there's no such thing as a totally hazard free construction site.Thanks to Leodian/yourself for the input.They are always a site to see when operating.

Leodian · Post by **Leodian** » Mon 20 Aug, 2012 1:17 pm

Thanks Phill for the video. It is almost hypnotic watching such a fast moving time-lapse view. I want a ride on the 'cage' that moves beneath and along the extended arm! Cheers somme1916 for your "Thanks to Leodian/yourself for the input.They are always a site to see when operating". Trouble is to see them operating we have to crane our necks!

WiggyDiggy · Post by **WiggyDiggy** » Mon 20 Aug, 2012 2:27 pm

A65 BuslaneJust to pick up a couple observations as I've been using it (cycling) into/out of leeds in regards to some points from the council pages: Bus priority signal arrangements at two major junctions - Those need looking at, where the lane ends the bus's are signal controlled to get back in the lane but they are being made to wait rather than have priority. I can just change lane into whichever is green but they cannot.Provision for cyclists to use the new bus lane and enjoy a safer and easier ride - So far so good in sharing the route, not had any problems yet like at other shared facilities (outside university steps is notorious for poor driving from bus's) but I'll wait and see. One thing a friend pointed out is that he's on a slick tyred road bike, and he doesn't use the lane - that red surface is actually quite rough and he gets a smoother ride on the normal lane.New buses from the London 2012 Olympics, with low level access, arriving October 2012 - Eh? Does anyone know anything about this?http://www.leeds.gov.uk/residents/Pages ... ridor.aspx

Phill_dvsn · Post by **Phill_dvsn** » Mon 20 Aug, 2012 3:12 pm

Leodian wrote: Thanks Phill for the video. It is almost hypnotic watching such a fast moving time-lapse view. I want a ride on the 'cage' that moves beneath and along the extended arm! You might like these two videos then, this one has some jazzy music to it.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2mSSDF2 ... =relmfuYou need your smoking jacket on and a glass of scotch to watch that one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vx5Qt7_E ... re=related

Leodian · Post by **Leodian** » Mon 20 Aug, 2012 3:36 pm

Those videos were fascinating Phill. It needs time-lapse videos to really see the progress. I was never any good with Meccano as a kid but I could happily play to build those cranes. I was going to make a comment about the erections going on but I decided it may be too rude for SL (oops, I still did it!).

raveydavey · Post by **raveydavey** » Mon 20 Aug, 2012 9:44 pm

WiggyDiggy wrote: A65 BuslaneJust to pick up a couple observations as I've been using it (cycling) into/out of leeds in regards to some points from the council pages: Bus priority signal arrangements at two major junctions - Those need looking at, where the lane ends the bus's are signal controlled to get back in the lane but they are being made to wait rather than have priority. I can just change lane into whichever is green but they cannot.Provision for cyclists to use the new bus lane and enjoy a safer and easier ride - So far so good in sharing the route, not had any problems yet like at other shared facilities (outside university steps is notorious for poor driving from bus's) but I'll wait and see. One thing a friend pointed out is that he's on a slick tyred road bike, and he doesn't use the lane - that red surface is actually quite rough and he gets a smoother ride on the normal lane.New buses from the London 2012 Olympics, with low level access, arriving October 2012 - Eh? Does anyone know anything about this?http://www.leeds.gov.uk/residents/Pages ... ridor.aspx I'm sure they'll fix the traffic light timings in favour of the buses once they're up and running - the ones on York Road are a nightmare, with a 20 second red-green-red sequence for the 'ordinary' carriageway if a second bus approaches the lights as the first bus goes through - causes no end of congestion....I don't understand this bit in the linked article though: "The improvements will link in with the planned new railway stations at Kirkstall Forge and Apperley Bridge, giving people in north west Leeds a more efficient and green transport system." Are they really expecting people to get off the bus and onto a train heading to exactly the same place (or vice versa)? Or is it marketing bluster for the press?

WiggyDiggy · Post by **WiggyDiggy** » Tue 21 Aug, 2012 10:07 am

raveydavey wrote: I'm sure they'll fix the traffic light timings in favour of the buses once they're up and running - the ones on York Road are a nightmare, with a 20 second red-green-red sequence for the 'ordinary' carriageway if a second bus approaches the lights as the first bus goes through - causes no end of congestion....I don't understand this bit in the linked article though: "The improvements will link in with the planned new railway stations at Kirkstall Forge and Apperley Bridge, giving people in north west Leeds a more efficient and green transport system." Are they really expecting people to get off the bus and onto a train heading to exactly the same place (or vice versa)? Or is it marketing bluster for the press? I can see what I think are the detection strips (3/4 white lines in parallel across the road) about 1/2 mile back from the lights. But at the citybound lights has a bus stop right by the lights meaning if a bus stops, nothing can get through anyway!The forge comment is strange and I didnt pick up on that, I think their meaning is the area as a whole is improving but the choice of language is strange.TBH that A65 webpage used to be a lot better, and technical, with lots of documents showing the design and various temporary works going on. Whats their now is more of a press release.

simong · Post by **simong** » Tue 21 Aug, 2012 10:25 am

raveydavey wrote: I don't understand this bit in the linked article though: "The improvements will link in with the planned new railway stations at Kirkstall Forge and Apperley Bridge, giving people in north west Leeds a more efficient and green transport system." Are they really expecting people to get off the bus and onto a train heading to exactly the same place (or vice versa)? Or is it marketing bluster for the press? Surely the idea is that people get out of their car and on to the train to get into town. Kirkstall Forge is going to have (be?) a large car park for that very reason.Even with the bus corridor complete it's probably going to be quicker to get the train though, so the idea of buses feeding onto the trains isn't wrong, but would make more sense if most of the bus routes in Leeds weren't radial and in the case of the A65, didn't parallel the railway.

WiggyDiggy · Post by **WiggyDiggy** » Tue 21 Aug, 2012 1:56 pm

simong wrote: Surely the idea is that people get out of their car and on to the train to get into town. Kirkstall Forge is going to have (be?) a large car park for that very reason.Even with the bus corridor complete it's probably going to be quicker to get the train though, so the idea of buses feeding onto the trains isn't wrong, but would make more sense if most of the bus routes in Leeds weren't radial and in the case of the A65, didn't parallel the railway. If thats the idea its doomed to failure as by the time you reach Kirkstall Forge people will just keep driving - I've walked to work in Leeds from that area before nevermind caught a train!The only way this would work would be if they reduced parking in the city centre to force people off the roads.Also, isn't that line one of the busiest already? I'm thinking of the Northern services to Ilkley that always seem rammed?