[stevekennedy]

I am needing to close a road to do a job. I need to stand in the road to clean the windows.

Does anyone have any experience of closing a road or setting up a diversion? I am wondering if I need a permit etc.

Any suggestions greatly appreciated

[Neil Williams]

Never had to do it, but you will need to contact the relevant Council roads department

[DASERVICES]

Steve,

You have to contact the Council. Bit too late for me to scan their website but give the Council a ring on Monday. It is going to be full of red tape, you have to do it otherwise you can get fined.

[stevekennedy]

Thanks guys. I am wondering if it might be better to use a traffic light with a remote control? ANyone used one of these?

[HIGH LEVEL WINDOW CLEANERS (scrimmy)]

steve...get your aspirin out now........its a huge undertaking...i worked for a cleaning co years ago doing work that required the stopping up of roads act ...and most jobs were 6 weeks in advance.....and even when things went through normally, inc red tape it was hassle.com.........this is a brief insight of how things work in these dept's........."wait"......."wait"........."wait"....ok.we will look into it......."wait".......ok...can you satisfy the following conditions?.....blah....followed by blah...........then another blah for good measure......and a final blah..always on a friday afternoon........wonder why....well we the board have considered your application for the stopping up of roads act 19canteen and we the board hereby blah...cant be bothered coz i am only on 12 k a year and i work my butt off doing the hard work...pushing bits of paper around(recycled..hey we are a green org) have approved the following works with conditions......"bend over backwards and juggle six beanbags while you count backwards from 1000 "...you get the picture.....is it really worth doing this job......how much does it pay...how many hairs do you have?...factor in the amount of hairs you expect to have at the end of the project........and research the price of a good quality wig/hairpiece...if the cost of the latter is greater then find a 50 quid a day job............but thats just my opinion.........others will disagree........tuppence per view..........paypal only.

[matt]

ive had to do it when doing building work

the only thing i can tell you is its a pain in the backside, the paperwork with the council is a pain, they have to ok it AND they dont ok it without a fight

if you can do it anyother way, try your best

[steve m]

how about early sunday morning with yellow lights on your van

[HIGH LEVEL WINDOW CLEANERS (scrimmy)]

van with yellow lights......yeah that would work, if you arent closing the road.......but it sounds as if a diversion is needed......get these headache tablets stocked up.

[Blackbushe Windows]

Def think you need to do it properly, if at all. Van with yellow lights might work, but if anything goes wrong you could have problems.

Best find out mate.


Peter

[Jeff Brimble]

I just stand blatantly in the road with the jackets and bollards etc  for 5-10 min at what ever time my RA says is the best time. I am very rural area
If you can do it off the pavement vertically its also totally legal. ?

[ronnie paton]

i did one a while ago but started really really early with the pole and got the high level stuff out the way.
can you do it with a pole?
i got cones and road sighns and narrowing sighns but like i said relly early so didnt inform council

[stevekennedy]

Thanks for all the replies.

The job is worth over £1k.

It is on a dual carriageway which has traffic at all times. We are doing the job at 8pm till 2am to get all the high stuff done.

The top 3 storeys we will do with cherry picker (crane style) which is rented by the hour. The lower 7 storeys (64ft) we are planning to do with a pole. The pavement is only 8ft wide and then you are onto dual carriageway. I can shut off one lane using my cones and roadworks sign, but I think I will need both lanes at that height to get the angle 

[bluez]

If you have a cherry picker why are you only coming down to the 8th floor why not come down to the 6th and reduce the angle? Probably a silly ? I am sure there is a good answer but I cant think of one.

In Ireland I have the same issue with red tape when needing access to public roadways but I find that after the first time it gets easier as you tend to be dealing with the same person in the roads dept. and all your paperwork should remain on file.

[ronnie paton]

If you have a cherry picker why are you only coming down to the 8th floor why not come down to the 6th and reduce the angle? Probably a silly ? I am sure there is a good answer but I cant think of one.

In Ireland I have the same issue with red tape when needing access to public roadways but I find that after the first time it gets easier as you tend to be dealing with the same person in the roads dept. and all your paperwork should remain on file.

i would say prce maybe wrong though!

[stevekennedy]

Got it in one Ronnie. £60+VAT per hour for the crane. We keep it on site for the absolute minimum.

Also, part of thew building is 10 floors and part is only 7 floors. The part with 10 floors has private ground in front where we can put the crane. If we use a cherry for the other part we need to put it on the road and that defo involves a permit (more cost  ) and it is painfully slow to clean them this way. Pole is about 3 times quicker and no overheads

[DASERVICES]

Steve,

It has to go through the Enviroment and Infrastructure from what I can see through various minutes. Looks like it has to go through a committee which sits once a month so is a long process.

There is an email on this document, let me know how it goes.

http://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/ACCI/nmsruntime/saveasdialog.asp?lID=8733&sID=4486

[stevekennedy]

Thanks Doug

I have decided that closing the road is not an option as I can see that the time and money involved would be too great.

The council is so good at creating red tape  :

JOBS FOR THE BOYS!

[jeff1]

If you look at the pavement in the first & second pic you will see how narrow it is, I have to do the windows of the shop and the flat above,also the house with the bay window and everytime I have to stand in the road to do them, I wear a hi-vis vest, keep my ears and eye's open, I also have a look out to warn me? I get them done quick, its better than the hassle the local highways give you for closing roads off.

[stevekennedy]

Hi Jeff

Thanks for the ideas, and the pics  I have used this approach myself when I can just do a job quick.

unfortunately, this job I am doing has 420 windows on the road side

It is also 64ft high 

Might still use the lookout approach though. As we are doing it in the middle of the night, hopefully it will be quiet.

[jeff1]

Just take care and if you do use the lookout, take away there mobile phone