Foundation

Don't have enough niggling anxieties in your life? Let me introduce you to one of mine.

I often wonder how often structures get checked. And by structures, I mostly mean bridges. For example, between Lancaster and Kendal there are loads of bridges over which the West Coast train line passes. And many of these bridges are old and stone built. I'd like to know when someone last checked they were fit for purpose. It seems to me to be one of those things that a Tory government would cut back on, you know?

Tall buildings bother me, too. I'm keen to know how anyone managed to be sure that the ground beneath them could take their weight. I did see a documentary about the building of The Shard and there seemed to be some science there, but what about buildings erected thirty or forty years ago?

When they rebuilt K Village in Kendal, no one could move into the apartments above the shops because it transpired that the architects had failed to account for the weight of the people and their possessions. Thing is, qualifications don't negate qualities such poor attention to detail or, indeed, stupidity. (I should point out here that one of the GPs at our local surgery is a creationist.)

I thought of all this today as I popped out of the Salford office for a coffees and passed this enormous drill. These are the kind of foundations I want to see.