Deadline missed - again

I have blipped this several times before - it is the bridge at Baile Mor on the road to Dunoon.   The old one was  terminally  damaged by the flooding on October 7th 2023 and since December 2023 a temporary bridge has been in place to carry traffic.

The original commitment from Argyll & Bute Council was to get a new one in place by the end of March 2024.   This ambitious timescale was partly dictated by the fact that the temporary bridge was only being leased and that the Council was having to make regular payments for it.

The deadline was missed, though as was the one that was then set which promised a new bridge by end of 2024.   Then the promise changed to starting work before the end of 2024 and that did happen , as the old bridge was demolished and crushed on site.   

There was some talk of the new bridge being completed by the end of the 2024/5 financial year but that date came and went too though in April actual construction work did commence on the new one, which was to be in place - and the temporary one removed - by the end of July .   Indeed I blipped that commitment a couple of months ago.   

Tomorrow is the first of August, and it is far from finished.   It is great that it is happening but the Council really needs to learn that setting dates that aren't met takes much the gloss off the actual achievement of getting it done.   

As I noted in one of my earlier blips about this , Jackie Stewart the racing driver once told me that his motto was "Under promise and over deliver".   

Not a bad one for Argyll & Bute Council to consider adopting.....