The Cowes Floating Bridge has been suspended for the umpteenth time this morning (Friday) due to yet another hydraulic oil leak.
Just weeks after a 14-week overhaul and 2 subsequent periods of repair, Floating Bridge No.6 is once again out of action.
Island Echo is told that the South West ram is leaking hydraulic oil, which could result in oil being polluted into the River Medina.
A foot passenger launch is being put into place to maintain a connection between Cowes and East Cowes.
It’s currently unclear how long the Floating Bridge will be suspended for.
The Isle of Wight Council are yet to issue a statement on the matter.
UPDATE – A spokesperson for the Isle of Wight Council has said:
“Unfortunately we have no option but to suspend the Cowes floating bridge service this morning (Friday) while engineers investigate an hydraulic oil leak.
Article continues below this advertisement “We have arranged for a replacement foot passenger launch to operate and will work closely with our contractors to resume the service as quickly as possible.
“We wish to apologise for any inconvenience caused”.
Time to use the headline to announce when it is operating.
When it’s operating it’s polluting the air too, as the council chose an old oil burning propulsion system, instead of an electric flywheel or battery system which recharges at each side of the river..
not again scrap the bloody thing and build a bridge save money in long term
Suspend the council. Public enquiry.
Come on Enough is Definitely Enough. Time for the Floating bucket of Shite to GO. Along with some Council Heads.
Brilliant let’s spend more money on it
yethey will your and my tax increase next year …tossers
Oh no!
There needs to be a public enquiry regarding the amount of money the council is pouring into this OBVIOUS lost cause.
It’s ok, another few miles of ‘safety’ lines and increased parking charges should cover it – out with the yellow paint and the tickets !
It’s worse than that Bryan. The council have the green light to increase council tax next year by a whopping 5%. That’ll buy a boat load, pun intended, of lipstick for this pig.
Imagine all that cocaine the council are going to snort next year. LOADS!!!
TAX EVERYONE TO DEATH!!!!
Who cares anymore? Sack and sell the houses of those idiots that agreed this fiasco, enough is enough….
As we used to say when I was in the RAF “A joke’s a joke, but blow a pantomime!”
Another RAF idiosyncrasy SNAFU – ‘Situation normal all f###ed up!’
Can we just replace the seemingly permanent ‘out of service’ signs with one that says NOT FIT FOR PURPOSE
c’mon IWC, have the courage to scrap it.
Scrap it!
Just be glad that the engineers!!! do not build planes.
sack the council members they are a waste of time the same as the floating bridge
Yet another tedious failure from this clearly unfit for purpose vehicle, yet another weak response from the council, this grotesque insult to the Isle of Wight taxpayers must be removed from service permanently. PUBLIC ENQUIRY NOW.
I think the council should pay for it as they had a pay rise a couple of months ago
Reward for failure yet again. Time for a 100% clear out of County Hall. They are simply not fit for purpose. If this was a commercial organisation they would be bankrupt by now, so why are these people still here? Answer: because they are financed out of public funds, in other words our taxes over which we have no control. You are a sham. You should be ashamed of yourselves. Do the decent thing – GO.
I reckon this totally useless piece of rubbish should be recycled into something that is useful.
Mind you, you can’t recycle this council into something useful!
So what’s the answer, sack them all.
Unbelievable
Words fail me!
This is excellent news.
They should increase council tax by 100%
prick
His name states he lives on one.
Here’s an idea .. tow it down the river and open it up as a nightclub – long live the Medway queen …
Honestly this is a major embarrassment now !!!! When will they face it, HELLO it’s not fit for purpose ??????
It IS fit for purpose. It can carry cars and foot passengers across the river, that is its purpose.
It is clearly badly built, badly designed, constantly breaking down, and needs a pusher boat, but it is fit for the purpose it was built for.
If the council did declare it “not fit for purpose” what would you then expect to happen? The thing cost £4 million. Replacing it would cost the same if not more. Where do you expect that money to come from?
The council are following a legal process. There is nothing else they can do.
A rare thing on this website, someone talking sense. The council are following a legal process and trying to get their losses back through the courts. The council didn’t build the thing so its hardly their fault if it keeps breaking down. If you bought a new car that kept breaking down, would that be your fault or the fault of the manufacturer?
Saturday morning and still not answering their phone, still out of service but website saying running according to the schedule, not funny anymore.
all those moaning about the council…. local elections next year.
go vote.
Quite right. But I’m willing to bet that most of the people who continually moan about the council on here have never bothered to vote in their lives. Its easy to be a keyboard complainer but getting off your lazy backsides and taking a trip to the polling station requires some effort.
Public enquiry needed end of.
how would that be “end of”?
Any enquiry may establish liability or may not. The architechts and builders may then be liable for the cost of repairs and lost earnings, which would likely drive them bankrupt before even half of it was paid. We will not get our money back, we will not return it and get something that works. It just wont happen unless government pays for a new one – which they wont as they have already paid for this one.
Send it back, I can’t believe it’s still on the river or was it a bent deal gone wrong
scrap it