A bridge too far: Passengers on Sydney's new ferries would get 'their heads knocked off' on upper deck, say politicos
- Reference: 1598283212
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/08/24/sydney_ferries_too_tall/
- Source link:
Well, they will – just – but a public transport association has suggested the result would be 10 bloody stumps from the waist up.
So what is to be done? Will the eastern Australian state send them back to Indonesia for a refund?
Not according to a Transport for NSW [TfNSW] spokeswoman, who [1]told the Sydney Morning Herald : "While customers are able to enjoy the upper deck during their commute, they will need to move to the lower deck when passing the bridge."
The boats are due to enter service later this year.
Naturally, the opposition has seized the opportunity to call it a "fiasco". Shadow minister for transport Christopher Minns thundered: "Unless [NSW Transport Minister] Andrew Constance himself is going to yell 'duck' as these ferries pass under bridges, this looks to be a huge time waste for ferry staff.
"Now alongside late-running trains and COVID-safe buses, commuters will have to worry about bridges knocking their heads off as they battle Sydney's transport."
The state government and operator Transdev claimed that they were aware of the issue when the ferries were ordered, saying that some charter boats with viewing decks have the same problem.
But Graeme Taylor, of Sydney-based consumer group Action for Public Transport, was unimpressed with the excuse. "They bought an off-the-shelf option so the thing doesn't fit properly," he said.
"[People] would be severed from the waist up, at high tide it's a matter of centimetres."
Government said "operational procedures" would be implemented to move people off the top as it approaches the offending bridges "including signage, announcements and crew directing commuters".
Four of the ferries have arrived in Newcastle to the north of Sydney for final works and trials. The cost of leasing the vessels is part of a AU$1.3bn contract awarded to Transdev in February 2019.
Minns slammed the outcome as "another national joke" that ranks alongside "intercity trains that don't fit the track, or the 'Ferry McFerryface' fiasco".
He refers to NSW's 2018 order of 55 trains that [2]were 20cm too wide for existing tunnels, and a public vote the same year that allegedly named another Sydney ferry [3]after the meme that refuses to die , when it was in reality chosen by Constance.
Again, rather than backtracking, NSW relaxed safety standards and modified the tunnels. Sadly, we suspect messing with bridge heights is far more difficult due to the many knock-on effects it'd have on the rest of the transport network.
So if you find yourself enjoying the sights on a ferry along the Parramatta River one day – when [GESTURES BROADLY] is done with – remember to duck or you could end up with a shave that's three feet too close. ®
Get our [4]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/duck-the-problem-with-sydney-s-new-ferries-20200821-p55o61.html
[2] https://www.businessinsider.com.au/the-nsw-government-ordered-new-trains-worth-over-2-billion-that-are-too-wide-to-go-through-existing-tunnels-2018-3#:~:text=SuppliedAn%20image%20of%20one,partially%20modify%20the%20existing%20tunnels.
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2016/03/21/boaty-mcboatface/
[4] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: Thinking outside the box
Nah, take some water out of the river.
They could
Dredge out the bottom so the sea level went down.
Or flood the bilges and lower the boat.
Or replace all the bridges with London Bridge type opening bridges.
Have a nice day!
Re: They could
"Dredge out the bottom so the sea level went down."
That, clearly won't work as water finds it own level...and dredging the bottom of the river will just allow more water to fill the gap.
"Or flood the bilges and lower the boat."
That makes more sense...as long as the bilges are large enough. Another option would be to add more ballast so the boat sits lower in the water
"Or replace all the bridges with London Bridge type opening bridges."
OK - that's the one - and as you thought of it first, so can you send them some money to cover the costs of your brainwave please.
PS I think you meant TOWER Bridge. :-)
I expect the final solution will be the upper deck being completely blocked off on routes that go via these bridges. It will be too much hassle to get everyone off the decks in time on each journey, and having the boat creep under the bridge each time just in case someone was missed.
If every route goes via these bridges, then the upper decks will be permanently closed. Great value for money there!
Close the upper deck
I wanted to make the same point about the obvious solution being to close the upper deck. From the article that seems to mean losing just ten seats. Not sure what fraction of capacity that is but it doesn't seem such a bad deal if it saved having something bespoke built.
Mind you, clearance of a few cm seems a bit tight. I'd want at least 1 linguina.
As I remember there are actually only 2 of the cities many, many ferry routes that go as far up the Parramatta as to actually _go_ under either of those bridges. Would make more sense to just not run these on that route.
It only seems to be an issue at HIGH tide...so for most trips it will be OK.
Just need to close the top deck at these times.
Are they named Queen of Hearts I, Queen of Hearts II, and so on?
"Off with their heads!"
Why don't they just extent the river round the side of the bridge so the boat doesn't have to go under it? Problem solved.
Or make the water level a bit lower under the bridges. I’ve seen it in Microsoft Flight Simulator so I know it’s possible!
[1] https://www.reddit.com/r/MicrosoftFlightSim/comments/id9csd/speed_bumps_in_the_panama_canal/
[1] https://www.reddit.com/r/MicrosoftFlightSim/comments/id9csd/speed_bumps_in_the_panama_canal/
They're navigating like an Egypcian
When there was at thing called ‘tourism’ in the world, I did a cruise on the Nile river.
Enjoying myself on the top deck, I didn't understand what the fuss was about when the boat's employees started dismantling the tents that provided some well needed shade.
Then we passed under a bridge that I could touch with my hand if I'd wished to.
Watching more carefully, I noticed that every other boat we passed by also had those removable tents on top.
Never read about any accident resulting from that particular set-up, though.
Re: They're navigating like an Egypcian
You missed an opportunity there to hop out, run across the bridge, and jump back in.
I heard that everything in Australia will kill you.
But I always thought that only applied to the plants and animals!
Re: I heard that everything in Australia will kill you.
Bruce and Shiela have adopted Skippy’s attitude.
Mountain out of a mole hill
The clearance is only a problem at high tide (and quite possibly only around the period of spring tides at that - i.e. full and new Moon). So the solution is to chain off access to the uppermost deck for ferry trips that take place during the period when the tide is too high. Which is likely to be two trips per day per ferry during part of the month. So not a particularly serious problem at all - but of course ripe for making political hay.
Make use of the problem
Label the upper deck - POLITICIANS ONLY
High tide and choppy conditions?
If it's close at high tide as mentioned, what's it going to be like in choppy conditions and high tide.....?
Thinking outside the box
Don't waste your time raising the bridges, simply flood the bottom few decks of the ferry so that it floats much, much, lower in the water.
Obvious icon!