The Isle of Wight Council has issued an update on the current situation with the troubled Cowes Floating Bridge, but no date for its return has been set.
The latest suspension of the chain ferry follows on from a period of essential maintenance in July that was meant to last just 10 days, but a major fault was found with the hydraulic system. As a result, the River Medina service has been out of action for almost 7 weeks.
Since works to establish the issues started on 10th August, inspections by engineers of the main equipment (pumps, motors and valve blocks) have taken place.
Reports of analysis of hydraulic and other fluids and a further hydraulic ram inspection are now expected at the start of next week, but it is still unknown when exactly the ‘wight elephant’ will return to service.
An Isle of Wight Council spokesperson has said:
“We apologise for the continued delays and disruption to the service. It is important that the work to identify the root cause of the issues with the hydraulic system is as thorough as possible and this work has taken longer than anticipated.
“Once the full reports are received from the engineers, we can plan to resolve the issues, establish the time it will take to complete the works and to resume the service.”
The launch service for foot passengers will continue to operate from 05:00 – 23:00 (06:30-23:00 Sundays).
Tow it out to mid channel & let the navy use it as gunnery practice.
Would make a good artificial reef for the fish!
Come on now . A joke’s a joke but we’re not laughing any more. This is a total farce and I as an infrequent user am fed up . How must people who rely and depend on this service ( if you can call it that ) feel ? Sheer frustration !
All this secrecy by the council stinks of corruption. There must be some way to mount a legal challenge and force them to disclose ALL the facts. One or more people need to be spending time in jail or bankrupted over this. All this old bollocks about commercial secrets cuts no ice. It should be illegal to include non-disclosure clauses in all public contracts of any kind. If someone needs a non-disclosure clause then they are probably acting in a criminal manner. Most likely, they are stealing from the public purse.
the only people stealing are the government in the form of taxation…u do the work and take the risks…they steal your profits and threaten you with jail. leeches
Add to this fiasco the roads and now waste disposal. Yes, it is high time there was a full blown inquiry as to exactly what is going on on this Island. Like a judicial enquiry into the way our beloved council is run and exactly where our money goes. Isle of Wight Council, take note, we who are forced to fund you have had more than enough of you. Your time is up.
One of the biggest White Elephants ever on Island. We need a new link across Medina from E Cowes to Newport much cheaper in long run, and would solve some of the traffic issues in centre of Island.
I think it’s now time for the council to increase prices by 50% to pay for all these costs.To keep our amazing floating bridge running…
We have been an island for around 7000 years yet we really seem to struggle with any sort of water transportation. Doesn’t seem to be much learning going on
Why have the council not sued Burness Corlett Three Quays the company that provided the technical specifications? We have been deafened by the response from this company on explaining what went wrong and why they have not put there heads above the parapet.
Shut the stinking thing down….