My employer has recently banished me to Basildon, which means that I'm
taking a sudden interest in the wind component of weather forecasts.

I know that the QEII Bridge was closed one day about a month ago when
wind speeds were approaching 30mph, and I wonder whether there's any
more reliable way of predicting bridge closures than just checking the
weather forecast.

I've got the provision to home-work occasionally, and I'd rather do that
than turn up at J3 (Swanley) and queue for an hour because only one
tunnel is carrying northbound traffic in the morning.

However, my boss will get upset if she thinks that I'm home-working too
often.

Later today (I can say that, as it's past midnight) the wind speeds
around the Thames Estuary appear to be peaking at 29mph in the middle of
the day, but 23mph towards the end of the morning peak and at the start
of the evening peak looks likely.

Not being much of an early riser (witness me sitting here at midnight)
I'm likely to be using the tunnel at about 9:30am and wonder whether
there's a website which disseminates information on the status of the
Dartford Crossing.

The site where you get your Dart Tag doesn't appear to carry that sort
of information, so the best bets are the BBC traffic news and AA
Roadwatch, but neither *predicts* a bridge closure - merely reporting
the ensuing delays after they have happened.

Does anyone have a favourite site which is more helpful?

Helen

Helen Edith Stephenson helen at baronmoss dot demon dot co dot uk
--
(I'm sure you can figure out what I mean!)
http://www.wuronga.me.uk/helen/

"Helen Edith Stephenson" wrote in message
...
My employer has recently banished me to Basildon, which means that I'm
taking a sudden interest in the wind component of weather forecasts.

I know that the QEII Bridge was closed one day about a month ago when
wind speeds were approaching 30mph, and I wonder whether there's any
more reliable way of predicting bridge closures than just checking the
weather forecast.

I've got the provision to home-work occasionally, and I'd rather do that
than turn up at J3 (Swanley) and queue for an hour because only one
tunnel is carrying northbound traffic in the morning.

However, my boss will get upset if she thinks that I'm home-working too
often.

Later today (I can say that, as it's past midnight) the wind speeds
around the Thames Estuary appear to be peaking at 29mph in the middle of
the day, but 23mph towards the end of the morning peak and at the start
of the evening peak looks likely.

Not being much of an early riser (witness me sitting here at midnight)
I'm likely to be using the tunnel at about 9:30am and wonder whether
there's a website which disseminates information on the status of the
Dartford Crossing.

The site where you get your Dart Tag doesn't appear to carry that sort
of information, so the best bets are the BBC traffic news and AA
Roadwatch, but neither *predicts* a bridge closure - merely reporting
the ensuing delays after they have happened.

Does anyone have a favourite site which is more helpful?

Helen

Helen Edith Stephenson helen at baronmoss dot demon dot co dot uk
--
(I'm sure you can figure out what I mean!)
http://www.wuronga.me.uk/helen/

Being completely the other side of London I don't watch the same issues so
whether any of these will help, I'm not sure but try: Make sure you tell
the difference between real time and predictions and look at all the
clickable options.

www.trafficmap.co.uk
www.trafficengland.com
http://www.highways.gov.uk/7964.aspx
http://www.mouchelparkman.com/area5/...icMap?ReadForm

In article , Graham Harrison edward.har
writes

"Helen Edith Stephenson" wrote in message
...
My employer has recently banished me to Basildon, which means that I'm
taking a sudden interest in the wind component of weather forecasts.

I know that the QEII Bridge was closed one day about a month ago when
wind speeds were approaching 30mph, and I wonder whether there's any
more reliable way of predicting bridge closures than just checking the
weather forecast.
[snip]
The site where you get your Dart Tag doesn't appear to carry that sort
of information, so the best bets are the BBC traffic news and AA
Roadwatch, but neither *predicts* a bridge closure - merely reporting
the ensuing delays after they have happened.

Does anyone have a favourite site which is more helpful?

Helen

Being completely the other side of London I don't watch the same issues so
whether any of these will help, I'm not sure but try: Make sure you tell
the difference between real time and predictions and look at all the
clickable options.

www.trafficmap.co.uk
www.trafficengland.com
http://www.highways.gov.uk/7964.aspx
http://www.mouchelparkman.com/area5/...icMap?ReadForm

Thanks. I'll give these a try.

Helen

Helen Edith Stephenson helen at baronmoss dot demon dot co dot uk
--
(I'm sure you can figure out what I mean!)
http://www.wuronga.me.uk/helen/

Helen Edith Stephenson wrote:
My employer has recently banished me to Basildon, which means that
I'm taking a sudden interest in the wind component of weather
forecasts.

I know that the QEII Bridge was closed one day about a month ago
when wind speeds were approaching 30mph, and I wonder whether
there's any more reliable way of predicting bridge closures than
just checking the weather forecast.

I've got the provision to home-work occasionally, and I'd rather do
that than turn up at J3 (Swanley) and queue for an hour because
only one tunnel is carrying northbound traffic in the morning.

However, my boss will get upset if she thinks that I'm home-working
too often.

Later today (I can say that, as it's past midnight) the wind speeds
around the Thames Estuary appear to be peaking at 29mph in the
middle of the day, but 23mph towards the end of the morning peak
and at the start of the evening peak looks likely.

Not being much of an early riser (witness me sitting here at
midnight) I'm likely to be using the tunnel at about 9:30am and
wonder whether there's a website which disseminates information on
the status of the Dartford Crossing.

The site where you get your Dart Tag doesn't appear to carry that
sort of information, so the best bets are the BBC traffic news and
AA Roadwatch, but neither *predicts* a bridge closure - merely
reporting the ensuing delays after they have happened.

Does anyone have a favourite site which is more helpful?

The Highways Agency site says "In high wind situations the system allows
a progressive series of measures to be applied to restrict the speed and
position of vehicles on the bridge, and at very high wind speeds to
close the bridge and send all the traffic through the tunnels."

You could ask the HA at at what wind speed
the bridge closure occurs. (Or possibly
) I would imagine it would be
dependent on gust speeds rather than average wind speeds, and may also
depend on wind direction.

Predictions of wind speeds are probably best obtained from the Met
Office's short-term airport forecasts (TAFs - Terminal Aerodrome
Forecasts). The nearest airport is London City, with Biggin Hill and
Southend also quite near. You have to register to get access to these,
but there is no charge. For further details go to
http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/aviation/ga.html

The TAFs include wind speeds and direction, including changes expected
during the forecast period. Significant gusting is also forecast, e.g.
27025G35KT, meaning wind from 270 degrees (westerly) at 25 knots,
gusting to 35 knots. There are also actual weather reports (METARs)
issued once or twice an hour, available from the same site.
--
Richard J.
(to e-mail me, swap uk and yon in address)

In article , Richard J.
writes

Richard, thanks for all that info. The airport forecasts sound good.
Funnily enough, we were watching a programme on the Discovery Channel
about El Nino the other night and they interviewed a cattle farmer in
Australia who said that he found the pilot's forecasts to be a lot more
helpful to farmers than the farming forecasts, so it seems like a lot of
people think airport forecasts are pretty good.

[snip]
The Highways Agency site says "In high wind situations the system allows
a progressive series of measures to be applied to restrict the speed and
position of vehicles on the bridge, and at very high wind speeds to
close the bridge and send all the traffic through the tunnels."

To me, this means that the east tunnel is probably closed to northbound
traffic as soon as they start sending high-sided vehicles through a
tunnel rather than over the bridge, so north-bound congestion could
build up well before the bridge is totally shut. I think the east tunnel
is wide enough for 2-way traffic, but don't know whether they would
implement that. They do in the Blackwall Tunnel. If they run 2-way
traffic through the east tunnel, that would only reduce northbound by
one lane, which wouldn't be as bad as halving it.

One of my colleagues who lives in Essex says that they divert high sided
vehicles to Tilbury and park them, so maybe they don't always filter
them straight off into a tunnel.

I've got a lot to learn about commuting via this crossing!

Helen

Helen Edith Stephenson helen at baronmoss dot demon dot co dot uk
--
(I'm sure you can figure out what I mean!)
http://www.wuronga.me.uk/helen/

On 15 Feb, 19:36, Helen Edith Stephenson
wrote:
In article , Richard J.
writes

(snip)

The Highways Agency site says "In high wind situations the system allows
a progressive series of measures to be applied to restrict the speed and
position of vehicles on the bridge, and at very high wind speeds to
close the bridge and send all the traffic through the tunnels."

To me, this means that the east tunnel is probably closed to northbound
traffic as soon as they start sending high-sided vehicles through a
tunnel rather than over the bridge, so north-bound congestion could
build up well before the bridge is totally shut. I think the east tunnel
is wide enough for 2-way traffic, but don't know whether they would
implement that. They do in the Blackwall Tunnel. If they run 2-way
traffic through the east tunnel, that would only reduce northbound by
one lane, which wouldn't be as bad as halving it.

One of my colleagues who lives in Essex says that they divert high sided
vehicles to Tilbury and park them, so maybe they don't always filter
them straight off into a tunnel.

I've got a lot to learn about commuting via this crossing!

Helen


I'm sure that utl would be interested to hear of the dark secrets of
the Dartford Crossing once you've found them out.

By the by though I can't find any online reference to it I'm
nonetheless sure I've recently read or heard something about proposals
for the toll to go up, possibly £1.50 for cars IIRC, with bigger
increases for HGVs. The crossing would also become free to use
overnight for both cars and HGVs, though it's most likely won't be of
much consolation to you!

I'm sure you're aware of this Helen but just for anyone who isn't and
might be interested the Dartford Crossing's pre-pay tag system is
called DART-Tag and offers a 7.5% discount (which obviously is well
worth doing if you're a regular river-crosser but doesn't quite
compare to the half-price expectation I now have of smartcards
courtesy of Oyster!).
More info:
https://www.dartfordrivercrossing.co...-tag/index.asp

In article .com,
Mizter T writes
[snip]
I'm sure that utl would be interested to hear of the dark secrets of
the Dartford Crossing once you've found them out.

I'll try and post anything I find out.

By the by though I can't find any online reference to it I'm
nonetheless sure I've recently read or heard something about proposals
for the toll to go up, possibly £1.50 for cars IIRC, with bigger
increases for HGVs. The crossing would also become free to use
overnight for both cars and HGVs, though it's most likely won't be of
much consolation to you!

Yes, I've heard that rumour as well. People who live in Essex seem to
know all about it, so I think it's been reported locally. There is also
a rumour that the DART-Tag price may stay the same when the cash toll
goes up.

I hadn't heard about the free overnight usage. Currently they charge a
flat rate of £1 for overnight usage regardless of the type of vehicle.
It doesn't make any difference if you drive a car, but make a lot of
difference if you drive an HGV.

I'm sure you're aware of this Helen but just for anyone who isn't and
might be interested the Dartford Crossing's pre-pay tag system is
called DART-Tag and offers a 7.5% discount (which obviously is well
worth doing if you're a regular river-crosser

One of the first things I did when I found out about the relocation to
Basildon was acquired a DART-Tag. I effectively get one free crossing in
every 14:-) It's also handy for avoiding the queues at the paying toll
booths. Most mornings I go through the DART-Tag lane, which feeds into
the east tunnel, but if there's congestion between J30 and J29 and I'm
going to use the A13 rather than the A127 then I choose to go through an
operator lane and get into the west tunnel - although there is actually
time to change lanes on the other side for J30 (A13) if you go through
the east tunnel.

Coming home I rarely use the DART-Tag lane because I don't like crossing
the QEII Bridge in the far right lane. I also don't like crossing it in
the far left lane. I find bridges which aren't level are a bit scary to
cross and I prefer to be in a lane which isn't at the edge of the
bridge:-)

but doesn't quite
compare to the half-price expectation I now have of smartcards
courtesy of Oyster!).
More info:
https://www.dartfordrivercrossing.co...-tag/index.asp

I've got an Oyster card, too! And so's my other half. I wasn't using the
Tube regularly after the last office relocation, which moved me closer
to London Bridge and Cannon Street, so I changed from a TravelCard to a
train-only season ticket and got an Oyster card for those occasions when
I did need to use the Tube or a bus.

I'm looking forward to the time when I'll be able to use Oyster on the
trains. If I go up to town, I need to predict whether I will want to use
the Tube or not at the time of buying my ticket, and it would be much
more convenient to just use an Oyster for the whole journey, as it would
charge me up to the TravelCard fare if I *did* use the Tube, and less if
I didn't.

Helen

Helen Edith Stephenson helen at baronmoss dot demon dot co dot uk
--
(I'm sure you can figure out what I mean!)
http://www.wuronga.me.uk/helen/

On Wed, 14 Feb 2007 00:12:50 +0000, Helen Edith Stephenson
wrote:

The site where you get your Dart Tag doesn't appear to carry that sort
of information, so the best bets are the BBC traffic news and AA
Roadwatch, but neither *predicts* a bridge closure - merely reporting
the ensuing delays after they have happened.

Does anyone have a favourite site which is more helpful?

The BBC Kent and Southern Counties traffic news programmes were
recently predicting that the QEII Bridge would be closed, because they
had closed one of the tunnel bores in readiness.

I suspect that knowing the wind speed is the best guide, but at what
level they close or restrict the bridge probably depends on the
direction. Northerly or southerly winds will not be as bad as westerly
or easterly winds.
--
Terry Harper
Website Coordinator, The Omnibus Society
http://www.omnibussoc.org