Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Companies to pay for right to dig capital’s roads
Gas, water and electricity companies must from today buy a permit to dig up the streets in a pioneering scheme designed to reduce congestion caused by the hundreds of thousands of roadworks in the capital every year.
The disruption caused by digs to repair leaking pipes and lay new cables in London costs £752 million a year, according to the latest estimate.
Read the full story at The Times.
The disruption caused by digs to repair leaking pipes and lay new cables in London costs £752 million a year, according to the latest estimate.
Read the full story at The Times.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Malcolm on
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Great - a lovely example of charging for an externality that was previously ignored by the companies in question.
I wonder where the money charged will go - ideally it would go to those who bear the costs (ie drivers and other road users)....
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Permalink Reply by Old-Age-Emporium(OAE) on
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As the story makes no mention of footways or pedestrian inconvenience and specifically excludes so-called "emergency" work, I take it these charges will apply to utilities digging up the carriageway only. I don't suppose I could levy my own charge, then, on National Grid Gas for the inconvenience and danger to life they've caused me, wife and my neighbours for the past fortnight. Two triangular No Smoking signs and a flimsy rail around their half-arsed excavation does little to reassure. In fact the signs are an open invite to any drunken hooligan to drop his ciggy butt on the exposed gas pipe. As I wait for a Nat. Grid engineer to visit and tell me once again that they can't get cement to set at current temperatures, how much should I pre-charge this useless utility to cover multiple funeral expenses and costs of rebuilding a terrace of Wightman Road's Victorian housing stock?
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If it's any consolation, a lighted ciggy is unlikely to cause an explosion. To get an explosion you need to contain the force of the combustion - and that's pretty hard in the open air. You also need the right ratio of gas to air - which is why it's safe for workers inside gas storage tanks to burn air in gas to get light.
I suspect the result would be rather more like lighting a gas cooker if the ignition takes a little while to kick in - ie. a soft "whoomph" and a small flash of fire. Since the pipes are under pressure the fire can't travel back down the pipe as there's no air in there.
Not that I'm suggesting anyone tries it!
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Thanks Malcolm. I'll probably sleep tonight.
As for their front men's repeated excuse that the cold snap is holding them back as cement won't set - rubbish and an indication of how they treat anxious customers. Truth is they haven't found the gas escape yet - it may not be near our connection despite gas odour - and they don't seem to be doing anything active about it. A hefty charge per day for keeping our pavements like this might concentrate their minds, but it's not going to happen.
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