Let’s get this in proportion. There are 24,413 schools in England, or thereabouts, of which fewer than 150 are closed for a short time because of structural problems relating to a type of concrete that has outlived its safe life.
This is old hat if you live in Hammersmith. About fifteen years ago the eponymous flyover was closed because salt spread on the road in winter had permeated the concrete and weakened the steel bars reinforcing the structure and the heating elements that were supposed to make salt unnecessary and did so until the council switched them off to save electricity. Penny wise, pound foolish. But concrete can last almost for ever. The Pantheon (Rome) built around 20 BC, has a coffered dome made of concrete. The Hotel Metropol (Moscow) was built in 1901 of reinforced concrete. Although the sun is out the 2014 photograph, above, makes it look a bit bleak. The hotel website, today, makes it look more glamorous. It reminds me of another Art Nouveau hotel, the Astoria in St Petersburg where I stayed in 2020.
Staying in Moscow for a few days in 2013 I walked past the hotel a few times – it is opposite the Bolshoi Theatre – but never thought to go in. Subsequently I have read two books, one fiction and one factual, about the hotel: A Gentleman in Moscow (Amor Towles) and The Red Hotel (Alan Philps).
Alan Phipps gave a talk about his book at The Travellers’ Club this week and signed a copy for me. An enigmatic inscription that only a few of you will decipher. If you are stumped here’s a clue.
(to be continued)
Yes. The press will grab anything to sensationalise and blame, especially a gov in decline. How interesting about the flyover. I wonder how much of the problem was caused by leaching salt and for how long.