Something to keep an eye out for:
On or about 18 October 2010, for a period of about one week, contractors working on behalf of the City of London will carry out a structural inspection of the Millennium Footbridge by roped access.
A safety boat, maintaining a continuous watch on VHF Channel 14, will be in attendance whilst the inspection is taking place.
I wonder if the required bale of straw will also be suspended from the bridge?
In a bit of whimsy, wouldn’t it be fun to switch off the dampers that stop the bridge wobbling and let us have a day of wobbly bridge again?
Agreed, though this isn’t one of those look-at-me-with-my-aerodynamic-instability designs that require constant monitoring by computer. The damping is done with big chunks of rubber, a material not currently fitted with an off switch. Shame.
Sadly i have yet to see a bale of straw underneath Blackfriars… how am i supposed to know there’s work going on?!
Ahh, there is (or was) a bale of straw there as I have seen it.
I did actually write to them about it when works started and they said they didn’t need it – only for a press release to come out a few weeks later announcing the arrival of a bale of straw!