Hammersmith Flyover
| Hammersmith Flyover | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Carries |  A4 road |
| Maintained by | TfL[1] |
| Designer | G. Maunsell & Partners |
| Total length | 622 m[2] |
| Width | 18.6 m[3] |
| Longest span | 42.7 m[3] |
| Number of spans | 16[3] |
| Constructed by | Marples, Ridgway and Partners |
| Construction begin | January 1960[4] |
| Construction end | November 16th, 1961[5] |
| Construction cost | £1.2[3]–1.3 million[6] |
| Daily traffic | 87,059 (2010)[7] |
Hammersmith Flyover is an elevated roadway in west London which carries the A4 arterial road over and to one side of the central Hammersmith gyratory system, and it links together the Cromwell Road extension (Talgarth Road) with the start of the Great West Road. It is one of the first examples of an elevated road using reinforced concrete.[8][5]
Contents |
[edit] Design
An elevated road employing reinforced concrete balanced cantilever beam supports with a single central column. The deck spine and wings are of hollow prestressed concrete design, with each span being tensioned by longitudinal tendons (four clusters, each of sixteen 29mm steel cables)[9]. The flyover was designed by G. Maunsell & Partners, Consulting Engineers, led by Peter Wroth[10] and is 622 metres long.[2] When built the flyover included heating cables to "eliminate ice formation."[11] The system was initially successful,[12] though a £4800 bill "so shocked Hammersmith Borough Council that, as a protest, it cut off the electricity." London County Council paid the bill after this.[13]
The heating system became defective at some point a "long time" before 2000.[14]
[edit] History
Completed in 1961, it was one of the first examples of its design. Marples, Ridgway and Partners, a Westminster-based civil engineering contractor, built the flyover at a cost of £1.3 million.[6] The then Conservative Transport Minister Ernest Marples had been a Marples, Ridgway shareholder. To avoid a conflict of interest Marples undertook to sell his controlling shareholder interest in the company as soon as he became Minister of Transport in October 1959, although there was a purchaser's requirement that he buy back the shares after he ceased to hold office, at the price paid, should the purchaser so require.[15]
[edit] Repair work
The heating system was not successful and the deck was salted each year.[16] Tfl issued a statement that "damage to the ageing 1960's structure has been caused by water ingress, including salt water due to grit laid during the winter months, which has corroded and weakened the cables which help support the flyover."[1]
The Fulham & Hammersmith Chronicle claim that they were contacted on the 14th December by a whistleblower who revealed that problems with the structure were far more severe than was being made public.[17][18] The flyover was closed to all traffic from 23rd December 2011[19][20] to 12th January 2012 after structural defects were discovered.[8] From 13th January the bridge was reopened to a single lane of light traffic in each direction.[8] TfL state plans to strengthen six of the sixteen arches before the London 2012 Olympic Games and the remaining ten arches after the games.[21] New post-tensioned steel cables "are being installed in concrete blocks above and below the deck’s central reservation".[22] The repairs will extend the life of the bridge by 15 years.[23] The cost of repairs is estimated to be around £10 million.[24]
Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, has suggested that a tunnel may replace the flyover in the future.[23]
[edit] Landmarks near Hammersmith Flyover
- Hammersmith Broadway Shopping Centre
- Novotel Hotel
- Hammersmith Apollo
- St Paul's Church
- Lyric Theatre
- The London Ark
- Hammersmith Bridge
[edit] References
- ^ a b "Hammersmith flyover to remain closed next week" (Press release). TfL. 30 December 2011. http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/media/newscentre/archive/22190.aspx. Retrieved 2012-01-13.
- ^ a b McCarthy, Michael (Mon 9th Jan 2012). "Race against clock to fix vital transport artery for Olympics". The Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/motoring/motoring-news/race-against-clock-to-fix-vital-transport-artery-for-olympics-6286998.html.
- ^ a b c d "Hammersmith Flyover". Engineering timelines. http://www.engineering-timelines.com/scripts/engineeringItem.asp?id=1164. Retrieved 2012-01-13.
- ^ Basham, Rupert (Feb 2 2012). "Feature: The birth of the Hammersmith Flyover". Hammersmith & Fulham Chronicle. http://www.fulhamchronicle.co.uk/fulham-and-hammersmith-news/2012/02/02/feature-the-birth-of-the-hammersmith-flyover-82029-30252806/. Retrieved Feb 2 2012. "The volume of vehicles was such an issue that during the flyover's 22-month construction period, traffic had doubled in the area, reaching a peak of 70,000 cars a day."
- ^ a b Rawlinson, S. R. J.; Stott, P. F. (1962). "The Hammersmith Flyover (Includes Plates.)". ICE Proceedings 23 (4): 565. doi:10.1680/iicep.1962.10813.
- ^ a b Doughty, Steve (3rd January 2012). "The Hammersmith flyover: One of the greatest examples of stuff-you politics in modern times". Daily Mail. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2081722/The-Hammersmith-flyover-One-greatest-examples-stuff-politics-modern-times.html. Retrieved 2012-01-13.
- ^ "Hammersmith and Fulham Traffic Counts". Department for Transport. http://www.dft.gov.uk/traffic-counts/cp.php?la=Hammersmith+and+Fulham#16110. Retrieved 2012-01-13. "AADF for All Motor Vehicles 2010 87,059."
- ^ a b c "Hammersmith Flyover reopens to light traffic". 13 January 2012. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-16540112. Retrieved 2012-01-13.
- ^ Engineering Timelines: Hammersmith Flyover
- ^ Milligan, G. (December 1991). "Charles Peter Wroth 1929–91". Géotechnique 41 (4): 631–635. doi:10.1680/geot.1991.41.4.631. ISSN 0016-8505.
- ^ "BICC (advert)". New Scientist 16 (317): 693. 13 Dec 1962. ISSN 0262-4079. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=O2jajhTEkmsC&pg=PA603. Retrieved 2012-01-13.
- ^ The Surveyor and municipal and county engineer Volume 122. "The road heating of the Hammersmith flyover has been particularly successful during this prolonged cold spell"
- ^ . 214. "The bill, at £4800, for heating the Hammersmith flyover in the winter of 1962-63 so shocked Hammersmith Borough Council that, as a protest, it cut off the electricity. (The LCC now pays.)"
- ^ "Freedom of Information Request: Hammersmith Flyover Heating Correspondence". WhatDoTheyKnow.com. 17th January 2012. http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/hammersmith_flyover_heating_corr. Retrieved 25th January 2012.
- ^ Personal Statement - The Minister of Transport (Mr. Ernest Marples), Hansard, House of Commons, 28 January 1960
- ^ "Hammersmith Flyover update". Residents First: News from H&F Conservatives. December 31, 2011. http://hfconservatives.typepad.com/residents_first/2011/12/hammersmith-flyover-update.html. Retrieved 2012-01-13. "a thin deck with internal heating designed to avoid salting in winter. This latter feature, however, never worked. When TfL inherited it, in 2000, it has never been waterproofed properly but had in fact been salted each winter with resultant penetration of salt water into the structure and the steel cables holding the sections up."
- ^ Hammersmith Flyover 'unsafe' claims TfL whistleblower
- ^ Hammersmith Flyover Is 'Unsafe'
- ^ "Hammersmith flyover closed due to structural defect". BBC News website. 23 December 2011. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-16316283. Retrieved 23 December 2011.
- ^ "TfL statement on the Hammersmith flyover". Transport for London website. 23 December 2011. http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/media/newscentre/22169.aspx. Retrieved 23 December 2011.
- ^ "Hammersmith flyover to reopen for cars and light traffic as vital repair works continue" (Press release). TfL. 11 January 2012. http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/media/newscentre/22288.aspx. Retrieved 2012-01-13.
- ^ Lynch, Declan (9 February 2012). "Hammersmith flyover cable replacement starts this week". http://www.nce.co.uk/news/structures/hammersmith-flyover-cable-replacement-starts-this-week/8626208.article. Retrieved 13 February 2012.
- ^ a b Dominiczak, Peter (26 Jan 2012). "Hammersmith flyover? The solution could be to dig a tunnel, says Boris". London Evening Standard. http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard-mayor/article-24031088-hammersmith-flyover-the-solution-could-be-to-dig-a-tunnel-says-boris.do. Retrieved 26 Jan 2012.
- ^ Lynch, Declan (23 February 2012). "Hammersmith flyover: returning to full strength". http://www.nce.co.uk/features/structures/hammersmith-flyover-returning-to-full-strength/8626884.article. Retrieved 25 February 2012.
