Entertainment For Lively Minds
The joy of BIG infrastructure
Now, some of you may know that I'm in favour of small government. Somewhat paradoxically, however, I also love Massive Infrastructure Projects (favourite programme - Megastructures).
Anyway, one such proposed project I am smitten by is the Thames Hub, aka 'Boris Island'. This is the Foster (natch, er, except when it's Rogers) proposal to create a brand new London airport on the Isle of Grain in the Thames Estuary. This in itself seems to make perfect sense to me (although I fully understand that the residents of said Isle may take a different view), but it's the way this would link to the other distribution centres of the UK (such as the proposed Manchester/Liverpool Atlantic Gateway) that really sell it to me.
There's something so beautiful about plans like these in their pristine state that it's easy to see how politicians have always been seduced by them. But there's a difference between 'make work' / vanity projects whose benefits turn out to be illusory (see many urban regeneration projects, Olympic / Commonwealth Games, Edinburgh trams, in fact any tram network) and projects which genuinely make the country more efficient and productive. After all, even uber-libertarian areas like Singapore and Hong Kong have undertaken huge government funded projects like, for example the (him again) Foster designed Chek Lap Kok airport. On that point, many will say that we just don't do these big projects well in the UK (see Heathrow Terminal 5 opening). Well, turns out things didn't go too swimmingly in HK either at first:
For three to five months after its opening, it suffered various severe organisational, mechanical and technical problems that almost crippled the airport. Computer glitches were to blame for the crisis. Lau Kang-way, a Hong Kong politician, was quoted saying "This was meant to be a first-class project, but it has turned into a ninth-class airport and a disgrace. Our airport has become the laughing stock of the world.
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Terminal Five now, though..
Always seems devastatingly efficient on the occasional times that I use it. And it's a spiffy bit of architecture as well. The enormous trusses and cross-members for the roof structure always impress me.
And I think the Thames Hub idea could be a concept of utter genius.
Big Engineering, executed with daring, courage and wisdom is rarely a bad thing.
I loved aspects like...
the revival of the Ha Ha concept to remove the high-speed train from view, the integration of utilities like water, power and broadband within the embankments, the combined new Thames Barrier / Tidal Power (probably the only renewable energy project with genuine promise) installation. This stuff is like catnip to me ;-)
Terminal 5...
...was one of the most successful and trouble-free terminal launches in the history of civil aviation. The things that went wrong in its first few days were tiny hiccups compared to what usually happens. I know, because Mrs B was heavily involved in T5 and spent years beforehand studying airport and terminal openings.
T5 was a massive success - the glitches were very brief and comparatively very tiny, and as Lenny says, it's a very good terminal indeed.
That's the second time I've heard that
Your wife will know a friend of mine's wife, who was high up in the T5 chain of command. She says Heathrow were absolutely thrilled with how well it went.
Yeah.
Apparently it normally takes months - years - to get up to the sort of running that T5 achieved in days.
Not on the same scale at all...
The power plant where I work is on its last legs & will decommission in about 18 months.
A brand new Biomass plant is being built next to us, to commission as we pay off.
This will hopefully lead to a good, well paid secure job for myself & my colleagues.
Watching it being built from scratch is an absolute joy.
I truly am a spotter/ nerd about engineering.
I think I may need help.
Commonwealth Games
I take your point about vanity projects Dougie, particularly in the sporting arena, but I would suggest that the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester had a massive impact on the regeneration of the Eastlands area of the city, which was a real urban wasteland beforehand and is now the location of some very smart and attractive social/affordable housing. The stadium is obviously still in full-time use, and whatever the rights and wrongs from a footballing perspective, was a major factor in the attraction of Middle Eastern money into the blue half of the City (money which is now being spent on further development of the area for City's training facilities which will bring yet more jobs into the area).
Done properly, real, ongoing social benefits can accrue from these projects - but I accept this is the exception rather than the rule.
(I should point out I worked on the Games for two years so perhaps am not wholly impartial here).
Yeah and
sorry DougieJ but in spite of your comments our Tram Network is non too shabby either. It's already starting to function a bit like the Tube, albeit on a much smaller scale but when I'm hawking my DJ gear back from gigging Chorlton, changing at Cornbrook, and home in a fraction of the time/cost it would take otherwise it starts to feel like we're building a transport network that moves people around the city in a similar way to the tube..once the rest of the lines are in place (to Eastlands, Wythenshawe, Oldham, Mcr Airport, Didsbury) it'll be amazing and open fantastic new opportunities up. The ability to move people, easily and flexibly around a place is a very powerful thing indeed. Don't knock it.
They are nice,
but what do they achieve that couldn't be done with creating proper bus lanes at a fraction of the cost? A tram network is inevitably much more involved and hugely expensive, as Edinburgh is currently discovering.
Edinburgh is obviously a massive cockup
But I thought if you took the life of the network as a whole, the speed people can get round, power, the wear and tear on the assets etc over a longer period the trams are much cheaper. If you massively overshoot on the original build then thats obviously bollocks :-)
The tram project
has been an utter disaster for Edinburgh, both financially (massive overshoot in time and money) and for local businesses (in terms of disruption and inconvenience).
The most infuriating aspect was that this fiasco was entirely foreseeable before the project even began.
The bus system here is absolutely excellent and there was no need for an additional transport system.
Given the similar shocking overrun with the Scottish Parliament, I would hope that Edinburgh is spared any such projects for some time to come. The incompetence, inefficiency and (probable) corruption surrounding these projects have been massively dispiriting.
Beijing
I like the Norman Foster-designed Beijing airport (apart from its total lack of bookshops/newsagents, though that's not his fault). The roof blew off Terminal 3 in a strong gust of wind last week, apparently.
Foster's proposal
and Boris Island are actually two different things. While Johnson may well end up adopting the Isle of Grain design, it's not what he's specifically been pushing for.
Johnson doesn't have a design schemed up yet, at least not one that's been made public, it's really the principle he's been trying to establish.
Fair point.
I wasn't aware they were separate concepts. But I certainly think Boris's (big) vision is far preferable to Ken's ludicrous idea that one of the world's great capitals should reign in its ambitions (and that this would somehow be a 'progressive' policy) in this respect.
Anyway, what are your (i.e. The Massive in general) favourite Big Projects?
My favourite PAST projects
Manchester Ship canal
The docks on the Isle of Dogs
Settle/Carlisle line
Waverley Station must have been quite something - there was some big redevelopment at the eastern end not so long ago and there is a whole extra station underneath. Can't make head nor tale of the current redevelopment though (yet)
I remember the M25 being built and that was engineering on an epic scale - to my mind it wrecked South Bucks where I grew up but anyway for years you used to come across these really enormous and disorienting works whenever you were going in or out of London - and thats before they started redeveloping all the radial and feeder roads. I think its just made a series of bad jams worse but thats another argument.
Current ones -
St Pancras & the KC goods yard redevelopment & the tunnel to Essex
Berlin railways reconnection/reopening after the Wall came down. Probably done now but that was engineering on an heroic scale
'I think It's just made a
'I think It's just made a series of bad jams worse'
You cNnot seriously suggest it's a worse solution than all london orbital traffic using the north snd south circular? Now that would be a nightmare.
I use the M25 all the time and it mostly gets me from one side of town to the other in little more than half an hour, the alternative would be at least 4 times that. The road comes in for a lot of criticism (biggest car park etc.) but by and large it works very well.
Well
I lived in South Bucks till 1982 and then in London to 1996 so I am not an expert and there are of course many more vehicles on the road. EWven so - If you are on the M25 you might get round London more quickly - which is an important part of its purpose - but it acts as a huge series of funnels for other traffic and creates massive jams at on/off points even if you're not trying to get on or off.
My folks and their friends (all still there) certainly have extremely mixed feelings about it
So its fine unless you live near it - millions do and the benefit they derive from getting around London more quickly isn't obvious. Its not as devastating as the interstates through US cities (some would disagree) but there is blight associated with it too.
Anyway you probably wouldn't disagree
Cheers
Favourite 'grand projet'
In the UK it has to be the construction (admittedly over a long time and not with a single vision) of the London underground. What a massive task to fit into a busy city, you can see today with Crossrail just how much disruption is caused but somehow the city can still function.
The channel tunnel is pretty impressive as well.
The French are pretty good at these though and they generally have the support of a less skeptical population. Recent impressive work includes La Defence and the Millau viaduct.
Millau viaduct
IMHO the Millau viaduct is a work of beauty.
Indeed it is.
And designed by Brits..
But it needed French people to have the vision to commission it.
Getting heavy exposure
on the magnificently bleak The Killing at the moment, I give you the Oresund Bridge, which, not unambitiously, connects Denmark and Sweden...
I say heavy exposure, but not being, er, exposed quite as much as Sarah Lund's jeans-clad bottom ;-)