Hope of Stronger Bridges and Fewer Level Crossings,
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HE amount of money which the Minister of -31Transport proposes to set .aside. in his next budget for the specific purpose of making grants to county councils and other highway authorities so as to assist them in any approved schemes for the strengthening of weak bridges Over railways and canals, and for the abolition of those anachronisms, the level-crossingS, is all fel() small for the end in view, anti ,it& ,niettgrenesS .rotice' More brings home:tbe evil effect ;of the rald:upon the Road Fund balances bythe Chancellor of the Exchequer. To improve ,.a road bridge that has been maintained at -a -strength 'suitable for the traffic of 30 or 50 years ago so that it Shall now be capable of carrying the heavy loads that modern transport conditions impose upon it VIPWally means its rebuilding, which must entail a considerable -outlay—let us say, from .£40,000 upwards—whilst the abolition of a single levelcrossing must be even more expensive, 'because, besides a new bridge, there are the aPproaches to It, with their embankments, road :foundations and surfacing. It was, of course, a great mistake ever to have allowed railways to be built at ground level without at least imposing upon the promoters the onus of providing bridges to carry any roadway that might be intersected, with the stipulation that the bridges should at all times he adequate Rik the traffic.
The private Bill, which Col. Windsor-Clive has introduced into the House of Commons and to which wehave referred in our Parliamentary Notes, would seem to be . a soh:Oak:of the problem which is presented by the' present state 01 affairs. Under their enabling Acts the railway companies are not ;called upon to do more than to maintain bridges. at the strength that was suitable to the road traffic of the period when they were first Roads and the traffic upon them have materially changed in importance and extent, and the only way in which the weak links in the highway system can be brought to proper strength would seem to be to transfer the property in the bridges to the highway authorities upon agreed terms, or for the authorities to contribute to the ccist of 'bringing a bridge into line.with the capacity of the highway on each side of it, the Minister of Transport having power to require the execution of the work of reconstruction Or improvement if the owner of a bridge or the highway authority concerned does not act in the 'matter.: The case is very complicated, of course, but Col. WindsorClive's Bill has the advantage that it now virtually has the approval of the Minister of Transport, the highway authorities and the proprietors of railways and canals. The Government should not hesitate, therefore, to grant a few hours for its further consideration, -for its translation into law would open up many a highway that is now obstructed by relics of the past. Already_ 18 level-Crossings have disappeared in the past 12 months, and 10 more are the subject of negotiation.
Objectionable Fumes within Buses.
TN the design and maintenance of public-service vehicles it is of the utmost importance that attention be paid to a very common fault— that is,. the emission of noxious vapours which can enter the vehicle.
We have received many complaints in connection -with this matter, and only recently oneof the members of our start wasnearly stifled during a run of only half an hour's duration in a bus operating in the country. Even the buses in London are not always entirely free from this objection, although, fortunately, exhaust fumes do -not enter these to any great extent.
Webelieve that the chief cause of the trouble is leakage of the gases somewhere between the exhaust manifold and the pipe leading from the silencer, and it is to these points that particular attention should be paid, especially when a vehicle is operating in the country, where runs are often long. It is not of very great importance if a passenger is not likely to be in the vehicle for more than a few minutes, but in cases where he may be riding for an hour or more the fumes are not only objectionable, but actually dangerous to health, for they consist of a • mixture of carbon-monoxide-----a highly poisonous gas—carbon-dioxide, which is also deleterious to health, and gases from burnt oil, etc., which, although not directly harmful, are certainly objectionable.
We consider that it is in the interests of all owners of passenger vehicles, as well as in those of the travelling public, that a close watch should be kept, and any defective joints in the exhaust system made good as quickly as possible. It may be that sometimes fumes emitted from the actual exhaust pipe are blown back under and into the body through joints' in ,the. floor. There are, of course, eddy currents to. consider, but generally this leakage occurs when a-vehicle is standing for some tie with a breeze blowing from the side to which the silencer outlet projects, which IS usually the off side.
Precautions to Safeguard Passengers.
THE modern type of bus or coach, either with two doors for ordinary usage or one main door and an emergency exit, is a very much safer proposition than older patterns in -which only a single door permitted ingress and egress.
In our opinion an emergency door should also be provided when both the main doors are at the near side, as in the event of a vehicle turning over on to its side or being jammed against a wall or quick hedge, passengers may still be trapped, their only means of escape then being via the windows at the other side, which would be above their heads, through trap doors in the floor (in which case they would have to scrape past the propeller shaft or axle if that were possible) or through holes cut in the roof.
Our main object, however, in again drawing attention to this matter .(for the need has beenurged in these columns) is to point out that the mere provision of an emergency exit is not in itself fully adequate. It is essential that the control of the door at this exit should be easy, so that it can be opened without any loss of time in the event of an emergency which necessitates emptying the vehicle as quickly as possible, and this is not always the case, for such doors sometimes jam, either through warping or swelling of the door itself or rusting of the operating mechanism.
In this connection one of our driver readers has put forward the interesting suggestion that the opening of the emergency door at least once daily should be enforced. The matter might be taken even farther, and passengers at the terminal points (but, of course, not en route) asked to alight via the emergency exit. For one thing, this would familiarize them with the use of the door. The only danger in this respect would be that this familiarity might breed contempt and tend to make them wish to employ this exit during journeys. It would appear, therefore, to be better to let passengers alight in the ordinary manner and to ensure, by frequent and regular trial, that each door of the vehicle is quite free.