Harringay online

Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!

I was going to post this in the thread on discussion about large vehicles using ladder roads (http://www.harringayonline.com/forum/topics/council-vehicles-given-...), but thought better of it, so just in case a new thread.

John McMullan mentioned the fact his house is riddled with cracks as a result of the speed humps outside his house. I have increasingly noticed large cracks appearing in my own house (15 feet from the raised crossing for the Passage Way on Pemberton). I am getting increasingly nervous about them (especially one in my floor in the kitchen). Yes- I have a tree in the back...

When we moved in I asked an old time neighbour what the score was, and whether these houses are just subject to the kind of movement that gives rise to such cracks (being based on clay ground and having limited foundations etc). Interestingly she mentioned that a lot of houses were damaged and cracked as a result of the V2 that took out the 30 or so houses where Fairlands Park currently sits.

It would be really useful if anyone out there has any thoughts about how seriously I should take the cracks I am seeing around the house, and if they have any advice as to who I might talk to so as to have them checked out. Most are cracks in walls, and ceilings, often to not appear on the other side of the wall, do not seem to give rise to any cracks in the external brickwork, but have affected the kitchen floor (near a 5 year old extension)...

Tags for Forum Posts: speed humps, traffic, wightman road, world war II harringay

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Jo

Thanks for putting this reply on HOL. Official type of answer expected of course but unfortunately the much quoted Transport Research Laboratory report is misleading because they have measured their own trial vehicles for vibration readings. What they aren't measuring is effect over time.

They need to sit in a few affected houses for a day to understand what's going on. As to the installation of these humps being carried out to specification, that's not true. We all know from looking at different ladder roads that the humps are all shapes and sizes, with gradients and heights varying noticeably. I do know different contractors worked the different roads.

Question is, are they the humps the right design? For example are they less than 10cm high as they must be? Time to get out the measuring stick! Btw I live on Falkland Rd too so, if you want to discuss, PM me.
I also asked about Falkland Rd being resurfaced and it is not one of the 'chosen' roads. I wonder if that was decided before the great holes appeared?!?!?!?
Hi Justin,

My next door neighbour (we're also on Pemberton) has a speed bump immediately outside his house and when we moved in, he told us that he had had to replace the ceilings in his upstairs and downstairs rooms as a result of the "turbulence" caused by vehicles going over the speedbump. I can feel our house shake quite a lot when a heavy (!) or fast (!) vehicle goes over the bump, but as yet there don't seem to be any cracks in our house other than the minor ones commensurate with a house of that age, given that a WWII HE bomb landed on our end of the road in the war.

If you like, I can ask him who he used to assess the issue in his house (and what he thought of them) and pass you their details.

Personally, I don't think there would be a problem if the speed and weight limits were enforced, but that's a slightly different discussion.

Bethany
Thanks, those details would be useful. I think the issue is that large vehicles simply do not feel the bumps as they ride right over them without slowing down. There is one Haringey dustbin waggon in particular that is guilty, he comes to Yasha at the bottom of the road daily. I have to catch the guy and possibly film it before I can really do much about it. It does not help when dustbin wagons use the road as a cut through as one did the other day. I was not sharp enough to get his licence plate number.

I do not know why we don't have those huge metal bollards that you find from time to time to make drivers thinks about their paint work and panels. If they were set wide enough then cars would not have an issue, but it would slow the big boys down?!
If you think it's an Enterprise rubbish truck you can ring their boss Gary Tyler on mb. 07984 979309. Explain your problem and then ask for his email address.
Thank you, I'm pretty sure they are the main culprit as well.
Were you aware of the house that split entirely in two on Cavendish Road?
It was completely demolished and rebuilt. This was on the Green Lanes side adjacent to the passage.
The one on the other side of the passage had a big crack across its front, and ended up having its foundations rebuilt.

Scary stuff. This was apparently due to the hollow space underneath the passage and subsidence (probably not traffic as its an 'up' street)

The issue with several tonnes of rear axle repeatedly slamming the ground probably only really affects the streets with traffic going down the hill (some of the heavy lorries do literally speed over those bumps).

I've had books fly off the shelves in my top bedroom when this happens. The whole house literally shakes.
So far only minor cracks though.

I contacted the council about the problem and they vaguely said someone would come and have a look.
It does seem to have calmed down a bit since then for whatever reason.
Justin, in your position I'd call in a surveyor. There are all kinds of reasons for cracks in plaster, window frames etc. Some indicate quite minor problems. But just in case . . .

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