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| THE CRACKS IN CAPITALISM |
This is a classic example of what happens as budgets fall:
February 2009: It is recognised that work on the truss is
needed, but this is (correctly) deferred until the main cable dehumidification
is complete:
The assessment work has now been completed and an
independent check is being commissioned. Strengthening work on the truss has
also been put back until there is confirmation on the outcome of the
de-humidification scheme. However, work on the truss end links is scheduled to
start in 2010/11 following completion of the independent check
May 2010: A tender for work on the truss end links is
cancelled.
October 2012: Audit Scotland say of Forth Road Bridge
funding from the SNP Government: “The budget for capital expenditure was cut
significantly and a report highlighting the impact on the Capital Plan was
noted by Board Members.”
August 2013: Work
on the truss is planned on the truss ends:
As reported in June 2013, the Chief Engineer and
Bridgemaster will bring three projects to tender during 2013/14. The projects
that have been selected on the basis of criticality and affordability are; Main
Cable Acoustic Monitoring, Truss End Linkages and Suspended Span Gantry
Improvements. It is currently estimated that these three projects will cost
£2.270m based on the current Capital Plan. This will represent the majority of
the funds available for non-committed schemes and therefore it is recommended
that a full risk assessment of all projects on site is carried out before the
tenders are approved.
February 2014:
Planned work “deferred” due to Scottish Government budget cuts: During this
second round of deferrals, the four projects detailed below were identified as
having the highest estimated cost.
Therefore, these projects had to be considered in part or full for deferral
in order to produce a significant reduction in the predicted deficit...
May 2015: Work is further delayed: The intention of the
Authority was to carry out a trial repair on one tower leg and if successful,
this repair would be carried out on the other three tower legs. However, due to
issues with the quality of the existing tower steelwork; the difficulties of
access and the existence of red lead paint, coupled with the loss of key
management staff, the focus changed during the year to completing the trial on
one tower leg before the end of May 2015.
If the trial is successful, a recommendation would be made to Transport
Scotland that this work be continued post abolition of the Authority. If the
repair trial is unsuccessful then full replacement will have to be considered
by Transport Scotland.
Maintenance and repair are often the first budgets to go,
quick savings with little immediate adverse impact, and, with any luck, the
person who authorises the cuts will have moved on before they start to
bite. Hence why roads get pitted with
potholes, and hospitals get paint peeling from the walls. There's always a higher priority budget, and
yet, maintenance is actually the most important budget, because, when things
break, often the costs of repair or replacement are astronomical.
This illustrates a problem for public finances: governments
borrow to build, and often repay over 60 years, which is longer than the
lifespans of the buildings, so alongside the costs of paying for the building
in the first place, they have to pay for it a second time in maintenance.
YMS
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