Falling apart?

It was a bit of an eye-opener, but not much a surprise, when there was cause for concern last when subsidence appeared in the vicinity of the new works around the pier. While there’s little detailed historical records, it doesn’t take a lot of imagination to work out the potential for events around any work thereabouts, bearing in mind the place is built on reclaimed land- reclaimed in the days when there were no Building Regs.

No reflection on the contractors, they can’t be psychic, and even test drilling can only tell so much, and even that only works for natural formations, not man-made junk, where any old rubbish might have been thrown in the hole.

Looking a bit more serious this week, the pier buildings are closed, and CalMac have installed themselves in a Portacabin following the discovery of a crack in the pier building. While it’s not deemed terminal (oops, a terminal building with something ‘not terminal’), the surveyor is still to deem the movement stable, so there could be more to come, and maybe more stabilisation work needed.

Dear oh dear, landslides at the Palace, derelict and roofless buildings in Guildford Square, now the pier building is cracking up, oh, and the pier works are breaking into the sea wall, barely a couple of years old. Doesn’t take long for tidy to to become tatty.

Wonder if anyone’s put anything in the budget to keep the paint on the new roundabouts and traffic lights freshened up once the wear sets in properly?