BEFORE
AFTER
As the repainting of Teme Bridge is still at least 2 years away, Worcester County Council have decided that cleaning the bridge would be a good alternative.
Unfortunately, due to the proximity of the river, only gentle cleaning by hand is permitted to ensure that nothing spills and pollutes the water.
As you can see from the photo's above there is a spectacular difference in the before and after appearance.
Tenbury Advertiser Article complete with inaccurate information.
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19 comments:
I’m not sure whether or not your final comment about “spectacular difference” is serious or ironical. Surely, there can hardly be a better example of a monstrous waste of public money at a time when councils are allegedly strapped for cash. The sight of three men carefully washing down the rusting and rotten paintwork with small sponges and buckets of soapy water makes me extremely angry and, at the same, fills me with despair. Only a Council manager being paid at public expense could possibly think that this is a good use of taxpayer’s hard-earned cash.
Ironic. I suppose we should be thankful that it was directly employed staff and not sub-contractors. They did get called away to clear a tree that had fallen across a road elsewhere in the County, but promised they would return.
On a positive note WCC seem to have bought a new pot hole filing machine. It seems to fill the holes with a hot mixture that actually seems to stay where it is squirted. I drove past the machine in two locations yesterday, but it was not possible to park up and view or photograph it in operation.
I cannot believe what I am seeing. What do they think they are achieving by "hand cleaning" the bridge. That money should have been put towards re-decorating it. It is a disgraceful waste of money and the person who sanctioned it should be sacked.
Perhaps we should look on the bright side... they will only clean up as far the county borderline in the centre!!
The photo call, at the commencement of the work, (which I missed) included Dr George Lord, Leader of WCC and I think Cllr Derek Prodger MBE, Worcestershire County Council's Cabinet Member for Transport and Safe. Environment,and Cllr Ken Pollock who has been trying to establish the truth about what is wrong with the bridge.
I take it they haven't heard of steam cleaning? It's quick, it's effective, you only need one operative, and you don't have to add anything to the water, so nothing nasty would fall in the river.
Would steam cleaning also remove the remaining flaking paint? Also not even dirty water can drip into the river.
Dirty water drips into the water whenever it rains.
SSSHHHHH Don't tell the Environment Agency!
I walked over the bridge into town a couple of days ago. Doesn't it look nice now!? What a transformation! I also saw three men with clipboards admiring the handywork.
There’re at it again – this time on the west side of the bridge. I raised the issue with our County Councillor and was told that the work had been authorised by the County Council as a “gesture of support” for Tenbury pending a proper job in 2011/12 and that the work cost only about “nine man days”. I can’t imagine that the real total cost (wages, on-costs etc) will be less than £500. Nice to know that 40% of the council tax I pay to Worcestershire County Council has been spent on a “gesture”. When are these people going to get real?
9 man days is hard to believe.
There were 2 trucks and 4 men there today, and they have been working on and off for 2 weeks.
The 30 mile journey each way to and from the depot alone must be adding up to a small fortune.
24 Miles actually!
I shall ask the same County Councillor for the actual cost!
I think my earlier comments about the staff being directly employed might be wrong. At least one of the trucks today carried a Ringway logo.
WCC pays Ringway an estimated £18M per annum, so I guess whatever it costs it is considered to be a very small amount.
9 Man days must be in excess of £1,000 by any reasonable calculation, but maybe the Team they are using are a fast response unit that would otherwise be hanging in a cupboard waiting for an incident to happen.
Well they are still at it. Only two people when I went past but two trucks so perhaps the rest were on a break.
Well, it's eleven days since I asked our County Councillor for the actual cost of the bridge "cleaning". Rather predictably, there has been no reply. No wonder so many voters are deeply cynical.
it would look better if it had a coat of paint.
it need a good paint work on the bridge because if you see its 2 different whites on there.
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