4 March 2012

The jeopardy of Morshead Drive

| johnboy
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morshead drive

In 2010 the banks of the Molonglo River next to Morshead drive started to shift and cracked the bikepath quite spectacularly.

Over the weekend the bikepath fell into the river and was swept away.

Russ has sent in more pictures of the damage which do raise alarming questions about the major arterial road running on top the the growing undercut pictured.

molonglo reach morshead drive

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Thoroughly Smashed4:19 pm 06 Mar 12

That’ll do, cheers.

nsn said :

Thoroughly Smashed said :

Thoroughly Smashed said :

niftydog said :

…the willows were stripped out in the name of environmental salvation…

That sounds like a very strange thing to do, can you elaborate?

Actually what I was looking for was a specific statement from some government authority explaining the reasons for removal.

Let me Google that for you.

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=willow+removal+lake+burley+griffin

Not even google, just check this site.

http://the-riotact.com/stanhope-to-make-the-willows-weep/26424

TheFlyingScotsman said :

So I imagine they might actually start trying to ‘fix’ this strip of path around 2015, leaving a small strip of loose gravel as a single lane along Canberra’s flagship recreational bike route once again? Or could the fact that road users have the possibility of having some kind of surface damage actually trigger some genuine maintenance?

A novel approach would be making a bike path along a river flood-resistant … or even a metre higher? Or even a cycle lane on the adjacent road, instead of a ‘detour’ sign directing recreational cyclists onto an 80km an hour arterial with two lanes and a hard kerb?

One can only imagine what competence might look like…

You would be pretty accurate with that date TFS. Given the stormwater drains in Banks/Conder were washed away neary 3 years ago, and the repairs have only just started 1 month ago, using the same time line, you would be correct. However, what has been started in Banks, has just been washed away,again.

Thoroughly Smashed said :

Thoroughly Smashed said :

niftydog said :

…the willows were stripped out in the name of environmental salvation…

That sounds like a very strange thing to do, can you elaborate?

Actually what I was looking for was a specific statement from some government authority explaining the reasons for removal.

Let me Google that for you.

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=willow+removal+lake+burley+griffin

Thoroughly Smashed10:48 am 06 Mar 12

Thoroughly Smashed said :

niftydog said :

…the willows were stripped out in the name of environmental salvation…

That sounds like a very strange thing to do, can you elaborate?

Actually what I was looking for was a specific statement from some government authority explaining the reasons for removal.

Thoroughly Smashed said :

niftydog said :

…the willows were stripped out in the name of environmental salvation…

That sounds like a very strange thing to do, can you elaborate?

Haven’t you noticed, the banks of rivers are a hell of a lot barer these days? They are removing all “weed species” (I think they’re going after anything non-native) and exposing riverbanks to shocking erosion. The Molonglo has really copped it. They went after the fine old cottonwoods that surrounded the old Duntroon oval, too. Just a bunch of crappy bushes around it now, it’s very much diminished.

That gravel path was really pretty, not many people knew about it, but I was using it in the 70s. It had been there a long time by the looks of it.

Thoroughly Smashed9:45 am 06 Mar 12

niftydog said :

…the willows were stripped out in the name of environmental salvation…

That sounds like a very strange thing to do, can you elaborate?

willows are bad m’kay?

EvanJames said :

…there’s always been a path down there, it was gravel, and actually very beautiful…

Since the willows were stripped out in the name of environmental salvation it’s a lot less beautiful down there.

Thoroughly Smashed6:03 pm 05 Mar 12

keepitup said :

john87_no1 said :

Its deffs comms conduit. Any idea why its called Parramatta rope?

It’s yellow and blue.

Colours of the Parramatta Eels.

I got it straight away.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAEA1KzDynI

john87_no1 said :

Its deffs comms conduit. Any idea why its called Parramatta rope?

It’s yellow and blue.

Colours of the Parramatta Eels.

I got it straight away.

OpenYourMind said :

While I don’t purport to be a civil engineer, I could make a good guess at what’s changed to cause this collapse. The difference is that a bunch of willows (I think) were chopped out as part of the feral plant/weed erradication around the lake.

Ah, didn’t realise that. Yep, that would certainly not help. At all. That’s going to be a very expensive piece of Tree Policing if they have to shore up Moreshead as a result of it. Didn’t they learn from the Thredbo landslide? No, I guess they didn’t.

OpenYourMind said :

While I don’t purport to be a civil engineer, I could make a good guess at what’s changed to cause this collapse. The difference is that a bunch of willows (I think) were chopped out as part of the feral plant/weed erradication around the lake. I’d guess that the loss of these trees may have allowed for greater erosion. If you take a look at Google maps you can see all the trees that used to shadow this section.

I would say that is a very good guess, they were all stripped out of there quite a few years ago.

OpenYourMind1:01 pm 05 Mar 12

While I don’t purport to be a civil engineer, I could make a good guess at what’s changed to cause this collapse. The difference is that a bunch of willows (I think) were chopped out as part of the feral plant/weed erradication around the lake. I’d guess that the loss of these trees may have allowed for greater erosion. If you take a look at Google maps you can see all the trees that used to shadow this section.

There’s something interesting about this. Since, I dunno, the 70s, there’s always been a path down there, it was gravel, and actually very beautiful. At some stage they’ve put in that white pipe thing, and made a proper bike path. Now, we had huge floods in the 70s, and it survived. Now it collapses, I suspect that whatever undermining they did re the pipe and bitumen path is responsible for this.

john87_no1 said :

Its deffs comms conduit. Any idea why its called Parramatta rope?

It’s yellow and blue.

Colours of the Parramatta Eels.

haha the simplest of things!

A big tree at the Braddon side of Northbourne flats fell and crushed the bus “shelter”. I think this is why Northbourne Ave sothbound was shut down yesterday,

Its deffs comms conduit. Any idea why its called Parramatta rope?

Holden Caulfield8:21 am 05 Mar 12

I’ll make sure I stay in the right hand lane on my way home this afternoon.

15km/h below the speed limit, of course.

TheFlyingScotsman7:55 am 05 Mar 12

So I imagine they might actually start trying to ‘fix’ this strip of path around 2015, leaving a small strip of loose gravel as a single lane along Canberra’s flagship recreational bike route once again? Or could the fact that road users have the possibility of having some kind of surface damage actually trigger some genuine maintenance?

A novel approach would be making a bike path along a river flood-resistant … or even a metre higher? Or even a cycle lane on the adjacent road, instead of a ‘detour’ sign directing recreational cyclists onto an 80km an hour arterial with two lanes and a hard kerb?

One can only imagine what competence might look like…

Watson said :

Impressive! What is that white stuff hanging down?

It looks to be comms conduit – in another shot that I didn’t supply you can see the remains of the white maker tape that’s installed above it. I’m speculating that it goes to the mobile phone tower in the middle of the nearby roundabout. There’s also a length of Parramatta rope hanging down the wall that might have been put there recently to support it, but again I’m only guessing.

Impressive! What is that white stuff hanging down?

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