HL Deb 11 March 1981 vol 418 cc277-8
Lord Davies of Leek

My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.

The Question was as follows:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how much it has cost to try to keep in satisfactory condition the system of criss-crossing roads on stilts, known as Spaghetti Junction, which was opened in 1971; and whether this viaduct system has been inspected and tested to find if any of it contains high alumina cement.

The Earl of Avon

My Lords, my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Transport only has records which show the total expenditure on maintenance as opposed to that relating solely to structures. For the Midland links motorways, in the West Midland Metropolitan County Council area, this expenditure amounts to £l2½ million, since 1975, for the five years.

I am not aware of any use of high alumina cement in the structural members of the viaducts. The use of this type of cement when replacing some carriageway deck joints, which are not regarded as structural members, is considered acceptable.

Lord Davies of Leek

My Lords, I thank the noble Earl the Minister for that reply. Is he aware that the West Midlands County Council appear not to have enough engineers to keep a complete survey, particularly of the section known as Spaghetti Junction? Therefore, would it not be wiser for the cost of engineering and inspection of these to be a national burden rather than that it should be put upon local authorities? Secondly, is the noble Earl aware that 18,500 steel beams have been used in the construction of these links?—23 of them have already been found to be faulty on Spaghetti Junction. Has he any idea who is going to pay the compensation for this vast sum of money to keep the roadways in complete order? I do not want to raise a scare, but, in the hagiography St. Pachomius crossed the river Nile on a crocodile. He had a better chance than some people will have 10 years from now getting across Spaghetti Junction.

The Earl of Avon

My Lords, I was with the noble Lord, right up to his final remarks, which I think are slightly excessive. But, having listened last night until 2 o'clock this morning to the songs of the redshank, it is even more delightful to hear the noble Lord this afternoon. The consulting engineers were appointed on behalf of the department by the West Midlands Metropolitan County Council and work started in 1979. The inspections were substantially completed by the end of 1980 and all reports were expected to be submitted by mid-1981. As at 27th February—last month—47 reports out of a total of 133 have been received and, bearing this in mind, I should not like to comment in more detail on the noble Lord's supplementary question.

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