Reading Station improvements

[whole diary]

[ellendune]

After yesterday's rain there was considerable traffic disruption in Reading, partly caused by flooding under the Vastern Road bridge:
https://www.inyourarea.co.uk/news/live-updates-as-vastern-road-in-reading-closed/
in the Reading Chronicle there was an added (olefactory?) extra:
http://www.readingchronicle.co.uk/news/15894010.UPDATED__Vastern_Road_closed_both_ways_due_to_sewage_issue_after_downpour/
hopefully only Storm, and not Foul drainage.
Is this a sign of things to come when the have finished digging out under Cow Lane Bridge?

I am sure it was dealt with promptly as it is within sight of TW's HQ^▸ (Headquarters)

[lbraine]

Anyone know why all the retail units on the Reading over bridge are closed ? It’s been like that for over a week, all displaying a Network Rail notice saying closed and sorry ?whats going on ?

[Jason]

I was curious enough to google around and found this on a couple of news sites. It doesn't explain the ongoing impact though.

The retail units on the transfer bridge at Reading Station have had to be temporarily closed for safety reasons.
In a tweet on the Network Rail Reading account, staff have confirmed the decision's been made due to the impact of last week's severe weather.

https://twitter.com/networkrailRDG/status/971748983952564224/photo/1

[ChrisB]

That'll be costing NR^» (Network Rail - home page) a pretty penny or two in compensation to those units! Their turnover must be substantial....

[stuving]

I was curious enough to google around and found this on a couple of news sites. It doesn't explain the ongoing impact though.

The retail units on the transfer bridge at Reading Station have had to be temporarily closed for safety reasons.
In a tweet on the Network Rail Reading account, staff have confirmed the decision's been made due to the impact of last week's severe weather.

https://twitter.com/networkrailRDG/status/971748983952564224/photo/1

The obvious explanation would be that the water supply for sprinklers had frozen and/or burst. I found this from HelmX, who installed the shells of the original six units:

The roof structure also had to take the load of a water tank for a fire sprinkler system and air conditioning system, without having any interior supporting columns.

That's the roof of the units, not the deck. So it looks more like those tanks or the water-filled pipes were damaged, or just had to be drained to prevent that. Why it would take a long time to restore that, and whose liability it ends up as, are both still unclear.

[TaplowGreen]

I was curious enough to google around and found this on a couple of news sites. It doesn't explain the ongoing impact though.

The retail units on the transfer bridge at Reading Station have had to be temporarily closed for safety reasons.
In a tweet on the Network Rail Reading account, staff have confirmed the decision's been made due to the impact of last week's severe weather.

https://twitter.com/networkrailRDG/status/971748983952564224/photo/1

The obvious explanation would be that the water supply for sprinklers had frozen and/or burst. I found this from HelmX, who installed the shells of the original six units:

The roof structure also had to take the load of a water tank for a fire sprinkler system and air conditioning system, without having any interior supporting columns.

That's the roof of the units, not the deck. So it look more like those tanks or the water-filled pipes were damaged, or just had to be drained to prevent that. Why it would take a long time to restore that, and whose liability it ends up as, are both still unclear.

More units than usual in for repair?

[didcotdean]

Units are open now, having just gone over the bridge

[Adelante_CCT]

And yet another delay for the Cow Lane Bridge:

https://www.inyourarea.co.uk/news/cow-lane-to-reopen-in-reading-but-project-delayed-by-six-months/

[martyjon]

And yet another delay for the Cow Lane Bridge:

https://www.inyourarea.co.uk/news/cow-lane-to-reopen-in-reading-but-project-delayed-by-six-months/

Bit like Metrobus then, but we're nearly there, two weeks tomorrow is opening day.

[SandTEngineer]

I passed through Reading station last Saturday (12/05/2018) and to say the least I was both supprised and somewhat disgusted about the amount of pigeon poo all over the glass. Looks like the building has been designed without a means of cleaning some quite critical parts (such as over the footbridge escalators/stairs)

[stuving]

I passed through Reading station last Saturday (12/05/2018) and to say the least I was both supprised and somewhat disgusted about the amount of pigeon poo all over the glass. Looks like the building has been designed without a means of cleaning some quite critical parts (such as over the footbridge escalators/stairs)

All the roof "glazing" is in the form of ETFE ("polythene bag") inflated cushions, which isn't surprising in a Grimshaw design. Its cleaning wasn't covered in the D&A statement (that said "a more detailed review of these strategies will be developed throughout the next design phase"). The experts' experts on this stuff (i.e. Grimshaw use them as contractors for it) are Architen Landrell, and they recommend this in "How to look after your ETFE Cushion Roof":

Unlike traditional fabric structures, ETFE Foil is an extruded material and therefore has a smooth surface. This smoothness reduces the amount of dirt retained on the ETFE foil surface and allows the rain to wash away the majority of bird droppings and dirt. However, it is impossible to say that any material is entirely self-cleaning, and therefore we recommend the following cleaning regime:

In general terms, we advise that ETFE foil cushions are cleaned externally every 2-3 years if dirt build up becomes a problem. The city environment is dirtier than other locations and therefore may mean that more regular maintenance of the external façade is required.

The cushions might also need to be dusted on the underside, although far less often – depending on the amount of dirt collected in the internal atmosphere, we would recommend they are cleaned every 5-10 years but many don’t need cleaning on the underside at any point in their lives!

They don't say how this washing is to be done, but I guess a hose and a soft brush on a long pole is most likely. Giving it a serious scrubbing does not seem like a good idea.

But maybe it's just the wrong kind of pigeon (or their diet)?

[stuving]

I too noticed a bit of Reading station that's showing its age a bit early. I think the canopy on P5/6 went up in 2012, and like the others that followed its supports came pre-painted in battleship grey. So you'd presume they were factory-treated underneath with something like what they do to car bodies - they now go for twenty years or more without rusting under the paint as they did forty years ago.

But no, several of the stanchions have been prepared - a bit - apparently for repainting (and so have some seat supports). That doesn't look like rust where the paint was locally damaged during installation does it? (As I remember it, they were bolted down at a flange just below finished surface level).

[SandTEngineer]

How do you find these things STUVING?

I don't think it would be possible to reach some of the places I saw, without an OHL^▸ (Over-Head Line) isolation and a long reach mobile platform arm......

[stuving]

I don't think it would be possible to reach some of the places I saw, without an OHL^▸ (Over-Head Line) isolation and a long reach mobile platform arm......

I did wonder whether your comment was really (or in part) about the wall glazing of the "vertical circulation cores", but could not see those as over the escalators/stairs. The D&A statement did say that the glass wall there could be done by elevating platforms. However, the transfer deck between them is a problem because it's so close to and above the 25kV wires, which rules out most access gantry and similar methods that place staff outside. Their suggestion then was glass that could be turned round and cleaned from inside, but obviously that didn't happen. Since "a more detailed review of these strategies will be developed throughout the next design phase"  applied here too, I wonder what that came up with ... or did Grimshaw never have a bright enough idea before the design had to be frozen and built?

[Adelante_CCT]

And more problems with Cow Lane bridge

https://www.inyourarea.co.uk/news/readings-cow-lane-closed-after-sink-hole-appears/amp/

Closed late morning and was still closed earlier this evening, I had to take the scenic route home via Scours Lane