So there you have it. The railway bridge at Strathleven Place/Bonhill Road has been replaced overnight with the minimum of fuss and the maximum of efficiency. People came from miles around to see this historic piece of civil engineering work being carried out in Dumbarton at the weekend. The railway bridge at Townend Road/Station Road and Church Street will be replaced next weekend. Local people have expressed disappointment about the loss and lopping of lime trees on Dumbarton Common, lack of notice of this work and and about the diversion signs and re-routing of motor traffic and pedestrians not being adequate. However, this has been offset to some degree by the efficiency of the work done to replace the bridge by Network Rail’s contractors AMCO Giffen.
Pictures by Jim Crothswaite and Alan Ruine
The cutting of the Lime trees may have been necessary,but a great opportunity was missed not to cut them a bit higher up the stump and enable the carving of some stunning tree sculptures to enhance the entrance to the common for years to come.
I spoke to one rail worker that HAD tried to suggest that the stumps were left a higher( which was NOT an issue for the contractor ) but that suggestion was ignored.
Ok it’s probably not to be expected that the council would have been forward thinking enough to make the best of this bad situation, but with a bit more public consultation, the local punters would have been a bit more innovative, and we would have had a long lasting legacy from these mature trees.
#NoVision #Shortsighted.