Re: Silbury Hill, the truth | Forum — The Modern Antiquarian

Silbury Hill 180

Image by photobabe

To the Heart of the Matter

tjj Nov 10, 2007 17:07:47

Replying to nigelswift

Thank you NS for that clear and matter-of-fact information and please forgive the asumption that Winterboune Defenders might be connected to Heritage Action.

It does indeed sound DIRE and even catastrophic for Silbury. I have no partisan loyalty to English Heritage (ie I am not employed by them) but have to observe that they seem to be in a no-win situation. If Silbury really is collapsing in on itself it would be a feat of engineering ingenuity to stop it happening without endangering the lives of the people working on the project.

You clearly have more knowledge and expertise than I do on this matter so I have ask what would you suggest as a solution other than what is already being done. If it is a question of money that lets start a local and national appeal to spread the word - I for one would be happy to write to both the local and national press, if that is what is needed. The same goes for the matter of the door and lintel.

tjj

Pete G Nov 10, 2007 17:55:37

Replying to tjj

IF the hill was collapsing on the inside as bad as people here claim then why didn't the local and national press report it when they were inside last week?
Skanska & EH would not allow anyone inside if there was the remotest chance of any collapse hurting anyone.
The Silbury filmed showed the state of the collapse in August and that has been made safe.
Infilling starts on wednesday and the mound should be completely finished by January.
The scare mongering here isn't helping at all, its just the chuckle bro's bashing EH (Again)

nigelswift Nov 10, 2007 18:07:44

Replying to tjj

I have no reason to doubt what is now being done isn't all that can be done nor that it is isn't being done expertly. But then, I don't know WHAT is being done or what needs to be done, nor does the rest of the public (which is a seven and a half year old disgrace!)

I share your concern about the danger to people working there, which ought to be everyone's main priority. I worry, a lot, about the degree of instability. How unstable is a structure the stability of which hasn't been explained to the public by experts?

I'm glad we've got past the excavation stage as from now on, hopefully, structural engineers will be in sole charge. At the same time I worry that this stage is most hazardous, particularly the removal of old supports. I doubt if the collateral damage will be proven worthwhile in many cases.
(I also wonder about the extreme difficulty of fully filling the voids and therefore whether it will happen in full.)