Souterrains and road schemes

[BAJR Host]

think the MoLAS archaeologist who once went through the roof of the tube with a machine might disagree with that....

Should not have eaten so many pies...

"I don't have an archaeological imagination.."
Borekickers

[Sparky]

Were they on a bridge?

[Dirty Dave Lincoln]

I know its not on topic but i've got to ask anyway-is the story about the machine going through the roof of the tube true,or is it one of those urban myths (bit like an old wifes tale),I think it was in the mid to late 80s I first heard the story-can anyone confirm its authenticity?
And before anyone else puts the symbol up...:face-topic:

[achingknees]

I heard this when working for MoLAS in late 80s. He had the nickname of 'Sparky' due to encounters with the Tube electrics...

[1man1desk]

Posted by Sparky:

quote:Er...no brainer regarding preservation in situ. Can you imagine. Build over top of it with some sort of reinforcement. A few yeasr later, the road collapses or becomes pot-holed due to increased traffic and heavier vehicles. Roads Authority do what they usually do, i.e. fill in holes and re-surface. Souterain becomes unwittingly filled with hardcore and concrete.
Sorry. Just a hunger fuelled example of what might happen with preservation in situ and saving road builders a bit of cash.

Entertaining scenario, but not very realistic.

Firstly, any road that collapsed in that sort of way would result in huge PI claims against the engineers that built or designed the road. I work with these guys all the time - they aren't going to put something in place that would cause that to happen, because it would be professional suicide. I haven't come across such a thing in 15 years work on road schemes.

Secondly, 'some sort of reinforcement' means building a structure to protect the site, and that would certainly cost much more than excavating it in the first place - so no chance of saving the road-builders a bit of cash.
In any case, it wouldn't be the road-builders that either saved or paid extra, it would the the tax-payer.

The most significant case I have been involved in where the archaeology was felt to warrant 'preservation in situ' rather than excavation was a newly-discovered (but ploughed-out) Roman fort and vicus. The preservation method involved re-aligning the proposed motorway quite substantially, and that required compulsory purchase of a whole row of houses for demolition. The decision to preserve was made by the Highways Agency - in the circumstances, I argued for excavation.

1man1desk

to let, fully furnished

[Oxbeast]

Alright Tom Wilson, it was right on the A30 at Fraddon in Cornwall. I would hate to see that mitigation cited in a report as a favourable example of anything. Staying within AUP:

[Mna]

The very lovely Dave Bayley and his team excavated one at Newtonbalregan - M1 Dundalk Bypass a few years ago. Picked this one because it also appears in the Winter 2003 edition of Archaeology Ireland with cracking photos.