Decision details
City Wall closure for Piling Works
Decision Maker: Corporate Director of Place
Decision status: Decision Made
Is Key decision?: No
Is subject to call in?: No
Decision:
Permanent closure of the City Walls between
Station Rise and Micklegate Bar for a 6-week period whilst the Sisk
(the contractor) carry out piling works to the Queen Street
bridge.
Options Considered:
Permanent closure of the bridge versus closure
whilst works are ongoing only:
Permanent closure due to the curious nature of the public. The
piling rig mast is 20m high and will tower over the wall by around
10m. At its closest the rig will be around 3m in the horizontal
from the wall. Piling works are inherently messy and our concern
lies with the fact that members of the public will be too close
standing near the work zone.
The contractor has stated that they are happy to reopen the wall
outside of working hours (07h30 – 18h00, Monday-Friday)
however there are a couple of situations below as to why this may
be unrealistic:
• On very rare occasions, hydraulic hoses can spring a leak on
the rigs. In most cases there are exclusion zones around the rig
and so operatives are not affected, the worry is that if a hose
burst on the rig that this could quite easily affect members of the
public.
• As the auger retracts from drilling works, the debris will
often stick to the auger. To combat this an attendant excavator is
used to clean as much debris as possible from a safe distance. On
site there is an exclusion zone to ensure falling debris does not
cause injury.
The rig remains in place for the duration of the 6-week period. Our
work will attract a lot of interest and there is no better viewing
point than from the top of the wall. We would like to request
permanent closure as there are numerous members of the public
constantly leaning over the wall to a dangerous level to get a
better view. If the walls reopen outside of working hours, we will
not be able to manage the increased risk of someone taking a tumble
over the wall or being affected by the piling works and/or rig
risks stated especially when the site is unattended.
We will make sure that if closure is accepted that diversion signs
as well as wall closure posters have been created and put in place
for this duration.
Options Rejected:
Rejected the proposed closure whilst works are
ongoing only.
Publication date: 20/05/2024
Date of decision: 17/05/2024
Accompanying Documents: