With the bridge across Smith St at the Parkwood tram stop due to be lifted into place this weekend, I decided to take a look, it not being far away.

The first two photos show the general scene this afternoon. The bridge had not been raised and was still sitting on the road wheels which brought the under frame to this general area some weeks ago, it since being assembled further.

I could not get a better angle because some h&s zealot ordered me off the wide grass median strip "for my own safety". Passing traffic was limited to 40km/h here, the median had 90º gutters and even if the Big crane toppled over, I was still much too far away from it and everything else to be at risk. I queried his ability to reason, but not in those words!

Then another spectator told me that when they were setting up the Small crane (only a miserable 300 Tonne lift, I think I read) and before it even lifted anything, one of the outriggers which hold it steady during a lift had become somewhat bent. I don’t know how much earlier that had happened, but you can see that the crane still is sitting at a rather odd angle, front up in the air.

So things are not going well for this job with a thunderstorm and rain as I type this.

While walking away I noticed that a team of workers was adjusting the curve in the time-honoured way. Oh, and they were working hard until they spotted me.

Next I took a look at Parkwood East which still needs a lot of concreting and landscape finishing. One reason for it being less advanced than the 2 other new stops is that this is the only work truck road access, Smith St Motorway being just behind the sound barrier and with no entry point.

Finally, with the tram extension closed for that bridge lift and also some minor track adjusting, trams from Broadbeach South were terminating on the siding parallel to Olsen Ave. However unlike last Saturday when this area was clogged with trams which would normally have run to Helensvale but were not due to works, just one tram at a time was reversing there.

Also when out today I was told that the depot got an email yesterday saying that the line would open for regular service on Monday 18 December, with a ceremony and free rides Sunday ‘if everything is in order’.. Let’s just hope that the workers at Parkwood East can perform some sort of miracle over the next 7 days. I’ll try to confirm this date on Monday.

Regards,