This is a new group who wish to find out why the Ironmills Steps and Footbridge are still closed. You can't blame them, it will be 10 years next year with brief re opening for Xmas in 2015.
They will endeavour to have the route re opened and intend to write to the Council soon.
The group came about after an event in Ironmills Park at the KIC dance studio. Ironmills Road is pretty busy and it's a shame there is no foot access into the Park these days. People attending the event must have found Ironmills Road a bit tricky. Foot access would have allowed folks to avoid the road.
It's the same for myself. I attend KIC Studios on a Wednesday and always take the car. If the steps were still open it would be a 10 minute easy walk.
Bottom line is the cost versus the return. The costs now are no longer about just re instating the existing steps. They would require to be DDA Compliant.
The dog leg corner of the steps where the land has dropped about 6 feet would require an engineering solution. Previously it was piled with sleepers. I think I counted 13 high during the land stabilisation works. Far too much weight on a steep river bank.
The previous land works were not extensive enough to stabilise the entire land slip. The larger area to the East was not soil nailed. It then torqued against the part that was soil nailed and the slip was much worse the second time around.
It's pretty well documented in this blog.
I wish the new group well and I'm happy to provide factual information. But being a Facebook Group there are some wild and wonderful ideas about what the Council ought to do. There's even a comment about it all happening after house RP9 was built. It is quite amusing at times. As if we would build on an unstable bank and as if our house caused landslip. The house is not affected but just to keep people amused, when they enquire after our safety, we often say we are looking forward to having a Musselburgh Post Code.
This is the Facebook Group. If the link doesn't work then search on Friends of Ironmills Bridge. Please join and contribute to making sure all factual information is given to the group.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/5782103788536807
