Strong Opposition to Bridge Limits P RESIDED over by Mr. A.
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H. Dodd, a Ministry of Transport inquiry was held in Glasgow, on December 17, into two Provisional Orders by Glasgow Corporation for restricting weights of vehicles using 34 railway and canal bridges in the city.
Objections were lodged by the Scottish Commercial Motor Users Association, Omnibus Owners Association, Royal Scottish Automobile Club, Automobile Association, Showmen's Guild of Great Britain and Ireland, Scottish Transport Contractors and Glasgow and West of Scotland Horse and Motor Contractors Association, and by 15 individual concerns.
Mr. Donald Mackay, for the Glasgow and West of Scotland Association, said that he could not see how a bridge that was safe for a tramcar weighing 15 tons could be unsafe for a lighter vehicle.
Mr. A. L. Stewart, for the corpora
tion, said that 22 of the bridges, of which 10 were over canals, belonged to the L.M.S. Railway Co. and the others to the L.N.E. Railway Co, The proposals were temporary, as the owners were taking steps to strengthen and reconstruct most of the bridges. Weights allowable were mainly greater on railway than on canal bridges. The Orders were in the public interest, as the local authority would be the first to be blamed if an accident occurred.
Mr. A. H. McMurdo, divisional engineer in Scotland for the L.M.S., said that the loads suggested were the maximum that could be carried. over the bridges with safety. The length of a , tramcar prevented any other vehicle from occupying the bridge at the same time. There were technical reasons why a bus with a weight greater than that permitted for other vehicles could safely use the bridge.