When you head to Barnes railway bridge in southwest London for the time being, you’ll see a bale of straw hanging from the center arch — as a result of an historical regulation requires it.
The rule requires a bale of straw to be hung from a bridge as a warning to mariners every time the peak between the river and the bridge’s arches is diminished, as it’s at Barnes for the time being. In response to the Port of London Thames Byelaws, Clause 36.2, a bale of straw must be positioned underneath London bridges “when the headroom of an arch or span of a bridge is diminished from its ordinary limits”.
At night time, the bale of straw is tougher to see, so some warning lights are switched on as effectively.
Fairly why a bale of straw is required has lengthy since been misplaced to time. The commonest guess is that it could bash the pinnacle of any waterman who handed underneath a bridge with restricted top and warn them.
Nonetheless, that’s solely an oft-repeated guess and will effectively be improper.
The regulation, no matter its origins, nonetheless exists, and for the time being, scaffolding is hanging off the aspect of Barnes railway bridge, decreasing the peak beneath the arch, so somebody had to purchase a bale of straw and cling it from the bridge.
It’s now hanging in the midst of the restricted top arch and is well seen from either side of the river on the japanese aspect of the bridge. Unusually, it’s additionally doable to see it from above, as there’s a pedestrian footbridge subsequent to the railway, and you’ll peer down by way of the slats and see the bale of straw up shut.
It’s a pleasing sufficient method of warning river customers that each time the laws governing the Thames is up to date, the rule concerning the bale of straw is saved intact. And in contrast to most different warning indicators painted onto sheets of metallic, a bale of straw may be very environmentally pleasant.
The scaffolding can be in place for round seven weeks, though the bale of straw may not be in place on a regular basis as Community Rail’s contractors will generally transfer between arches.
The scaffolding is a part of the preparation for the works that may see the railway bridge shut for every week in late July.
A Community Rail spokesperson stated: “Our security promise is ‘Everybody House Secure Each Day’. So in accordance with historical custom and the Port of London Thames Byelaws, we hung a bale of straw from Barnes Bridge on the weekend after erecting scaffolding to hold out some essential repairs. We respect the quirkiness of this regulation, however it helps to warn ships of the diminished headroom under the bridge and the work happening, which is able to assist maintain our engineers secure whereas they perform repairs, and in addition these navigating the Thames on the water. The regulation additionally states that we should cling a white mild at night time as an additional layer of safety. Additional to this, a Discover to Mariners is issued to all river customers by the Port of London Authority as part of the method throughout our engagement with them.
“This very important enchancment work on Barnes Bridge will imply that the practice line between Kew Bridge and Barnes can be closed between Sunday 28 July and Friday 2 August. On 28 July solely, the closure can be between Feltham and Barnes by way of Hounslow and Brentford. Alternative buses can be operating and we urge passengers to test earlier than they journey.”
This text was printed on ianVisits
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