I have read lots of moaning elsewhere about how long it is taking to clear this mess up.
On the news they just showed one of the vehicles on being carried away on a low loader; there wasn't much left!
I would just like to say thanks to the emergency services! It cannot be a nice job.
And to those that say that they could open up other lanes to let traffic though, would you like cars whizzing past with impatient, frustrated drivers, inches from where you are working?
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I doubt they'd be wizzing past, three lanes into one sees to that. Plus how else but by going slowly would they get a good look?
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Having once been involved in a serious crash on a motorway with the road blocked and then 1 lane opened i was horrified and astonished at how many were iether tooting their horn, sticking fingers up or accelerating so hard their wheels were spinning ( partly from the diesel from a ruptured fuel tank ) I couldnt belive drivers attitude towards those that had been involved in the 4 car pile up ! to this day I have never forgotton that ! and still suffer from the injuries caused by an inatentive driver 6 years ago !
I also spent over 7 hours on the M25 some years ago when a lorry went over the central barrier and collided with a vehicle head on ! The road then was closed for over a day.
Too be honest the way some people drive now its no wonder they close a road after an accident ! I'm suprised they dont close roads for roadworks. I still wonder how some of these drivers get away with doing 90+ in the Road works on the M25 ! obviously to ignorant to realise that the workers are humans and they also have familes !
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I have been stuck in a few as well, maybe even the same one if it was around the A12 junction when a transporter went through the reservation. Just made the most of it with a book. Always carry some spare drinking water for such situations now.
Worst one ever for me was being stuck in a jam a motorway then hearing the worst news when I finally got to my destination, that it was a close relative that was killed when a lorry had crushed his car. That was 15 years ago and to be honest the family still haven't fully got over it.
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Its absolutely outrageous, there is no reason why the countries major economic artery, short of the road being washed away completely, should still be shut nearly 21 hours after the event. The highways agency still cant give a time.
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The road has been damaged by diesel spilling and this dissolves tarmac. The road was also gouged. Quite a large section needs digging up and resurfacing. It takes time to do and set.
The crash barriers also need replacing.
What is easy to say in a few sentences takes many hours to do in real life and to a standard suitable for motorway speeds not just local C roads.
It took the council 3 days to tarmac our 300 yard road with 10 men two years ago, and that was not badly damaged.
And its not just this country either. I have been stuck for hours on roads in France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy and the USA. They all do the same when there is the likelihood of a fatality or the road needs major repairs.
Last edited by: zippy on Sat 6 Aug 11 at 13:10
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>> The road has been damaged by diesel spilling and this dissolves tarmac. The road was
>> also gouged. Quite a large section needs digging up and resurfacing. It takes time to
>> do and set.
>>
>> The crash barriers also need replacing.
>>
>> What is easy to say in a few sentences takes many hours to do in
>> real life and to a standard suitable for motorway speeds not just local C roads.
Broken barriers? its an hour to cone into two lanes and stick a 50mph limit on.
Damaged overhead gantry? Its 4 hours with an acetylene cutter and a small crane to cut it up and have it away,
Gouged carriageway? patch it with tarmac and stick a temp 50 mph limit, With a bit of brains and thought you can cone round in as per the damaged barrier.
There are no excuses, you make temporary repairs, and then do the major work overnight
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>> There are no excuses, you make temporary repairs, and then do the major work overnight
Absolutely. Like the French or Germans, or anyone who is rational and not absurdly self-important and ideological like the British.
Same thing applies to major road repairs in London which these days are used, apparently deliberately, to cause major congestion sometimes for weeks or months on end. Never used to happen but does now, ever since the egregious twerp Ken Livingstone was allowed to poison London. No one has even started to cure it yet.
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>>Same thing applies to major road repairs in London which these days are used, apparently deliberately, to cause major congestion sometimes for weeks or months on end. Never used to happen but does now, ever since the egregious twerp Ken Livingstone was allowed to poison London. No one has even started to cure it yet.
Thats because they all want to drive cars off the road, whatever the political colour as roads cost money and more cars = more roads.
Out of sync traffic lights deliberately cause the same sort of problems.
>>Like the French or Germans
I wish this were true. I have been stuck for hours on their autoroutes and autobahns as well.
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And
"We have a gantry to remove as well.
"We are looking at reopening some lanes but at the moment progress is very slow."
Is it not possible to create emergency exits throught the Armco barriers ?
Obviously the "gap" would need reinforcing and a section unbolted etc etc. but the cost of trapping vehicles for so long must be enormous.
The new motorway centre concrete walls, although preventing crossover crashes, are another "no emergency exit " design.
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>>The new motorway centre concrete walls, although preventing crossover crashes, are another "no emergency exit " design.
From experience, the current method is to close the approaching motorway and turn stuck traffic around to the nearest junction starting with the back of the queue first.
Far from ideal.
Its a reason that I don't use the contra-flow lanes that the have on the M1 and M25 at the moment as there is no way out if there is a crash!
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Sometimes you wonder if the British who crossed the Rhine in 1945 and fought their way across devastated roads, bridges, canals, rivers, were the same helpless morons who try and get anything done nowadays.
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>> Sometimes you wonder if the British who crossed the Rhine in 1945 and fought their
>> way across devastated roads, bridges, canals, rivers, were the same helpless morons who try and
>> get anything done nowadays.
Must have been the Arnhem section of the M25....
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I'd only ever use the M25 if I had to make a life saving journey - this may be a contradiction as a minor road may be more reliable.
The standard and speed of road repairs in this country, is appalling.
I live on a 'B' road in S.London which is currently being re-surfaced over a distance of 0.5 miles or thereabouts. A major contractor is being employed and I'm sure the work is hot and unpleasant, especially on some days in the heat. However, although they start early-ish, they finish very early afternoon and are often gone by 2pm. I really don't know why this is.
I presume the M25 work is being done through the night however?
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They have closed a "B" road near me for FOURTEEN WEEKS just to replace 400 yards of gas main.
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Sometimes you wonder if the British who crossed the Rhine in 1945 and fought their way across devastated roads, bridges, canals, rivers, were the same helpless morons who try and get anything done nowadays.....
We probably are the same people but a diet of H&S propaganda and the mantra that "Safety is the No 1 priority" has created a generation filled with fear of trying to actually DO anything carrying the slightest risk. For example, I am frowned upon for riding my bicycle with no helmet. Now I know the likely hazards but for me I am prepared to take a very slightly higher risk so that I get the fresh air and comfort of the wind in my face. Same as changing a wheel by the side of the road, I will take the risk so that I get the benefit of being on my way in 5 mins plus the satisfaction of achieving that. I ride a motorbike - yes it is hazardous, of course it is - but i enjoy it, so it's worth the risk to me. And the list is endless....
And I guess that culture extends into the heart of Britan's management these days which is why the M25 is still shut!
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And ask the residents of Worcester Park, in S.W.London what they think of the chaos in Central Road whilst all three utilities dig up the road over a period of months!
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www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-surrey-14440993
Investigation into length of M25 Surrey crash closure
Transport Minister Norman Baker is to look into why it took more than 24 hours to reopen the M25 after a crash which left three people badly hurt.
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Surely they could remove a section of central barrier and allow people to turn around and escape, seeing as the opposite way is closed anyway. Pathetic. TPTB's egos seem to take great delight in causing problems and telling people they can go when I say and not a second before. Maybe a psychological side-effect of fluorescent green?
Last edited by: sooty tailpipes on Wed 10 Aug 11 at 11:02
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After the chaos in Scotland last year with the snow, that was one of the action points put forward by the authorities. Where traffic is gridlocked and other carriageway empty, remove the barriers.
What they didn't say was they got the idea from folks accounts of watching a van with workies in it getting their own tools out and doing that themselves!
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>>Surely they could remove a section of central barrier and allow people to turn around and escape, seeing as the opposite way is closed anyway.
>>
>>...that was one of the action points put forward by the authorities.
>> Where traffic is gridlocked and other carriageway empty, remove the barriers.
>>What they didn't say was they got the idea from folks accounts of watching a van with workies in it getting their own tools out and doing that themselves!
As I mentioned earlier the gap needs to be able to take the weight of the vehicles and of course should not be a free for all making their own gaps.
>>seeing as the opposite way is closed anyway.
It is til someone comes hammering along from another gap further up the M'way :-)
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M25 Crash - sooty123
