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Hamish Harvey

@hamishharvey.bsky.social
54 followers 43 following 102 posts

Engineer, masonry bridges and tunnels. Bill Harvey Associates Ltd. (consultancy, photogrammetric survey) and Obvis Ltd. (Archie-M software).

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Reposted by Hamish Harvey
John Bull @garius.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
Loathed by Dundee's very active suffragette movement as well, and he loathed them back. In part, because they kept leading chants of "You're a WC with no seat!" at the notoriously thin-skinned Winston when he lost in Dundee.
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Hamish Harvey @hamishharvey.bsky.social · 10/02/2026
Bridge of the Month 166 needs no introduction: Pont du Gard. www.billharveyassociates.com/bom/166-pont...
billharveyassociates.com
166. Pont du Gard — Bill Harvey Associates Limited
This month's bridge will need no introduction! We visited Pont du Gard in September 2024, as part of a tour of bridges around Avignon. It didn't disappoint.
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Ana McKellar @anamca.bsky.social · 03/02/2026
Pont du Gard, the structural detail you might miss Thanks @hamishharvey.bsky.social www.billharveyassociates.com/bom/166-pont... #Bridge #CivilEngineering #Romans
billharveyassociates.com
166. Pont du Gard — Bill Harvey Associates Limited
This month's bridge will need no introduction! We visited Pont du Gard in September 2024, as part of a tour of bridges around Avignon. It didn't disappoint.
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James Taite @jamestaite.bsky.social · 17/01/2026
Short 🧵 about the structural virtuosity of an anonymous builder in a traditional Maltese courtyard house:
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Hamish Harvey @hamishharvey.bsky.social · 06/01/2026
BoM165: The bridge at Semer Water is classic Yorkshire: simple, solid, and a fundamental part of the landscape. Sound in general, but for cement mortar pointing, cumulative damage from negligent driving is compounded by trees growing in the cracks. www.billharveyassociates.com/bom/165-seme...
billharveyassociates.com
165. Semer Water, North Yorkshire — Bill Harvey Associates Limited
To get started, the bridge over the river Bain at Semer Water is classic Yorkshire: simple, solid, and a fundamental part of the landscape as well as important infrastructure. It looks sound in genera...
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Prof. Ian Walker @ianwalker.bsky.social · 12/11/2025
xkcd nails car bloat xkcd: Car Size xkcd.com/3167/
xkcd.com
Car Size
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Phil Sturgeon 🌳🚵⚓️ @philsturgeon.com · 09/11/2025
Tories scrapped half of HS2, which without the other half would actually make many train times worse. People said “why don’t you focus on electrification of existing lines then” so now Labour, eager to proven they’re different from Tories, have scrapped all of that too.
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Hamish Harvey @hamishharvey.bsky.social · 16/10/2025
A wonderfully complex piece of masonry, lost in Reading.
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Darren McLean @darrenmcleanuk.bsky.social · 15/10/2025
There seems to be a big deal about 'eco-bricks' made from stone in the UK..., meanwhile in Italy, almost every building supplies outlet sells these.
A shoebox sized block of stone (tuff) cut to be used as a brickA disorganised pile of stone 'bricks'.Several pallets of stone bricks.
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Hamish Harvey @hamishharvey.bsky.social · 15/10/2025
It's 2025. I could buy a multifunction printer without wifi. Or one with wifi and a fax machine.
A multi function printer manufactured and sold in 2025, sporting a number keypad to allow sending of faxes by manually dialing a number.
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James Taite @jamestaite.bsky.social · 11/10/2025
And the flip-side to the lintel that wants to pass as an arch is the hidden key. Where the limitations of the stone call for an arch, but the appearance of an arch is unwanted, we get an arch in denial, with flat soffit and apparently vertical—not radial—joints.
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James Taite @jamestaite.bsky.social · 12/10/2025
For thousands of years we’ve been building with trabeated stone. For thousands of years it’s been chewed at, chased to abstraction. Repeatedly exhumed and revived, even after Roman concrete, even after Gothic vaults, after Rundbogenstil and Candela’s shells. Keeps coming back from the dead. a 🧵:
ruins of the Temple of Poseidon at Sounion. Doric columns carrying stone lintels against a blue sky; photo mine15 Clerkenwell Close, London, by Groupwork Architects, @amintaha. building with gridded exoskeleton of stone columns and lintels, variously saw-cut or quarry-faced; photo mine
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John Bull @garius.bsky.social · 21/08/2025
And yes, getting past the random giant picture of three happy students laughing at a salad at the top of the course page counts as one of those swipes.
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Hamish Harvey @hamishharvey.bsky.social · 19/08/2025
Bridge of the Month 164: We found Fatherford Viaduct on a walk around Okehampton, after following the East Oakment river down through a beautiful wooded valley. The heavy crusting of calcium carbonate tells some interesting stories. www.billharveyassociates.com/bom/164-fath...
billharveyassociates.com
164. Fatherford Viaduct — Bill Harvey Associates Limited
We found Fatherford Viaduct on a walk around Okehampton, after following the East Oakment river down through a beautiful wooded valley. The heavy crusting of calcium carbonate tells some interesting s...
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Hamish Harvey @hamishharvey.bsky.social · 17/08/2025
Lovely evening.
Penarth pier pavilion at dusk, from mid way along the pier looking back. The photo is taken at the middle of the pier, so everything is nearly symmetrical.
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Neil @stopfordianneil.bsky.social · 16/08/2025
I’ve mulled over posting this for months now. But yesterday it came to a head. And I’m aware that the people who need to see it will either not be here, or will suggest that I’m lying. I live near an asylum hotel. The reason I didn’t post earlier is that I didn’t want to raise undue attention
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Charity Majors @charity.wtf · 30/07/2025
This is a thought provoking, bite sized little piece that boils down to, "don't give feedback on EVERYTHING, because not everything matters! give feedback on things that have impact." I think it's a *great* exercise for the feedback-giver to think through the impact they want their advice to have.
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Phil Sturgeon 🌳🚵⚓️ @philsturgeon.com · 29/07/2025
Imagine thinking wind turbines are ecocide where over five years fossil fuel tankers create 90,411 oil spills *and only bother to report 474 of them* - satellite analysis exposes high density "slick belts" coinciding with shipping lanes. www.theguardian.com/business/202...
theguardian.com
Only 0.5% of 90,000 oil slicks reported over five-year period, analysis finds | Shipping industry | The Guardian
Pollution incidents reported between 2014 and 2019 were compared against scientific study that used satellite imagery to count slicks
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Keff 🍊 @kefyor.bsky.social · 11/07/2025
Every UK petition is like this
Mockup drawing of a UK parliament petition where the petitioner has asked for "good thing please" with description "we think the UK needs this".
Government responded: "No."
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Otto English @ottoenglish.bsky.social · 26/07/2025
In "Legitimate Concerns" news. 41% of the 899 arrested for taking part in Farage Riots last year had been reported for crimes associated with intimate partner violence. For those arrested by one police force, this figure was 68%. www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
theguardian.com
Two in five arrested for last summer’s UK riots had been reported for domestic abuse
Police data indicates overlaps between public violent disorder and domestic violence and abuse
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Christopher Sebela @xtop.bsky.social · 25/07/2025
when i have 6 to 8 enemies coming by the house
screenshot of a recipe for Beef Fizz  — 2 cans condensed beef broth, 1 cup chilled ginger ale, 2 tablespoons lemon juice — Combine ingredients and pour over ice in glasses. 6 to 8 servings.
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Paul Whitewick @paulwhitewick.bsky.social · 24/07/2025
Most days, when im out filming, I come across a little joy or two. Todays was this gorgeous Packhorse looking bridge along the fosse way.
Side on view of a packhorse bridge. Plenty of water flows under it. A clean arch of the bridge is centre shot. Trees and bushes give us the the edging of this picture. From Riverside looking north towards the bridge. We see the very thin arch of the bridge scanning the water. A large tree comes into the foreground from left of shot.
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Ed Henderson @dredhenderson.bsky.social · 05/06/2025
A bridge widened. Underneath Laverock Bridge, Mealbank, Cumbria. The left side once good for pack horses but then cars were invented. #BridgesThursday
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Greens4HS2 @greens4hs2.bsky.social · 20/07/2025
Heidi Alexander's decision to remove the safeguarding of HS2's route from Birmingham to Leeds is short-sighted in the extreme. This is the most beneficial part of the whole HS2 scheme - as we said at the time that the construction of the leg was cancelled. www.placeyorkshire.co.uk/govt-axes-de...
placeyorkshire.co.uk
Govt axes development safeguards on eastern leg of HS2 - Place Yorkshire
In news that may disappoint but not surprise Yorkshire's rail-users and property industry, the secretary of state for transport, Heidi Alexander, has lifted development restrictions along what would h...
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James Taite @jamestaite.bsky.social · 04/07/2025
🧵Learning to build by taking things apart: Some 19th c theorists like Viollet-le-Duc were fond of banging on about the structural and constructional logic of the Gothic style, terms that feel inappropriate when applied to elements that seem purely aesthetic, like the cusps & featherings of tracery.
construction drawing of a 2-light cusped Gothic-revival lancet with central mullion
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Dr Lindsey Fitzharris @drlindseyfitz.bsky.social · 13/04/2025
Same, medieval dudes. Same.
A medieval illustration showing two people pointing at a figure in the lower right corner who looks like he's trying to take off his chainmail but has gotten it stuck while it's over his head. The caption reads: "When I'm drunk AF and try to take off a turtleneck."
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Dr James Alexander Cameron @drjacameron.stainedglassattitudes.com · 05/07/2025
i like my mid-to-late 12thc Anglo-Norman Romanesque S doors like I like my coffee. Well actually I prefer them freely accessible primarily, but covered in bees is fun too
Earl's Croome, S door, with frontal chevron. the E jamb is covered in bees. They appear to be nesting between the timber door and the brick blockingclose-up of bees.BEESwide view of nave S showing pinned hazard tape (to protect bees)
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Ana McKellar @anamca.bsky.social · 02/07/2025
I think of Bill Harvey working on its build whenever I see anything of the Humber Bridge, @hamishharvey.bsky.social, including the comments in this case! everythingisamazing.substack.com/p/breakfast-... Thanks @mikeachim.bsky.social
everythingisamazing.substack.com
Breakfast Under The Bridge
On finding awe in deeply uncomfortable things.
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Hamish Harvey @hamishharvey.bsky.social · 28/06/2025
Grr. Originally a James Brindley structure. Several generations of masonry replacement visible, the original stone only in the abutments. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Canal bridge crash near Wolverhampton to cost charity £80k
The bridge near Dimmingsdale, Staffordshire, is hit for the fifth time in 14 years, a charity says.
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Darren McLean @darrenmcleanuk.bsky.social · 26/06/2025
From 1911 Materials influence design and application. Here concrete is reducing the detail achievable, in this instance, it refers to concrete cast in-situ.
Two drawings of brackets.  One being hand carved, and the other made more simply to be achievable in concrete, cast in-situA cornice, with few changes in profile, created to be easily achievable with in-situ poured concrete.A cornice in marble with fine details, difficult to achieve with in-situ concrete.Concrete building construction is so different from masonry construction in the vital principles of its use and structural design that it is evidently incorrect and faulty to apply the same immemorial proportions that have been passed along from classical and mediaeval times.
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Darren McLean @darrenmcleanuk.bsky.social · 26/06/2025
The metal frame acts like straps around a wooden beer barrel to prevent further separation of the stone.
A hinged iron bracket, a type of frame, is permanently wrapped around a structural stone column which has suffered fracturing.  The metal frame acts like straps around a wooden beer barrel to prevent further separation of the stone.
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John Bull @garius.bsky.social · 16/06/2025
In 1988, IBM tried to seize the whole PC market back and make it proprietary again. Everyone KNEW you couldn't win against IBM. Compaq, and founding CEO Rod Canion, decided to try. Read my latest #history longform on the fight for the soul of the PC. And how Compaq won. every.to/the-crazy-on...
every.to
The Man Who Beat IBM
Compaq’s Rod Canion broke Big Blue’s hold on the PC market—and changed computing forever
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simonvirr.bsky.social @simonvirr.bsky.social · 16/06/2025
A wonderful story about open standards tech, but more so about the benefits of being trustworthy and treating people well. Well worth the time to read.
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Engineer Like A Girl @engineerlikeagirl.bsky.social · 04/06/2025
I really resent it when motor lobbyists claim to speak on behalf of "drivers". I'm a driver myself: that doesn't mean I don't support building more bike lanes, ped crossings and investing in public transport - yes, even if that's at the expense of driving space/time. There are many people like me!
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Hamish Harvey @hamishharvey.bsky.social · 02/06/2025
BoM 163: A return visit to the old crossing at Alikianos, Crete, destroyed by floods in 2019. A new bridge is nearly complete next door. The old one is still more interesting. www.billharveyassociates.com/bom/163-alik...
billharveyassociates.com
163. Alikianos Old Bridge — Bill Harvey Associates Limited
A return visit to the old crossing at Alikianos, Crete, destroyed by floods in 2019. A new bridge is nearly complete next door.
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James Taite @jamestaite.bsky.social · 31/05/2025
Blocks of stone laid protruding from the wall, meant to be carved at a later date, are known as ‘bossage’. The Centre Block is full of them; the plan all along was to execute the carvings slowly, over hundreds of years, so that the iconography would reflect the evolving polity.
pic of shaft from which a stone vault springs; to either side are arches with label moulds. The label stops at the termination of the moulds are uncarved blocks of stone projecting from the wall.Text reading “Bossage, a term used for any stone laid with a projection beyond the upright of a building, to be afterwards cut into mouldings, or other ornaments; it is also used for rustic work, because the rustics project over the perpendicular of the building.” From Rudiments of Ancient Architecture, 1821
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James Taite @jamestaite.bsky.social · 24/05/2025
A 🧵 about stonecutting: A few weeks ago, around the same time that I read the piece by the incomparable @katewagner.bsky.social‬ about the Regional Car Dealership Rococo of the present White House I noticed this little pecked spandrel beside the entry arch of the old Carleton County Courthouse…
spandrel between the entry arch of the Carleton County Courthouse and flanking pilaster, Robert Surtees architect, 1871; a small irregular area of limestone is left pecked while the surrounding stone exhibits a smoother bush-hammering
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Hamish Harvey @hamishharvey.bsky.social · 14/04/2025
"the main cables are deteriorating and not as strong" as what? As strong as they were? As they need to be? As spaghetti? As vintage cheddar?
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Hamish Harvey @hamishharvey.bsky.social · 02/04/2025
www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/...
bbc.co.uk
Bridge collapses into river in Mandalay, Myanmar
Video shows damage to the Ava Bridge, near Mandalay, after a 7.7-magnitude earthquake rocked central Myanmar.
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Hamish Harvey @hamishharvey.bsky.social · 29/03/2025
BoM 162: Rubira Bridge in Rwanda is the first masonry bridge built under the auspices of Bridges to Prosperity (B2P). B2P kindly shared the weekly progress photos, and I've picked out key steps and added a little* commentary. www.billharveyassociates.com/bom/162-rubi...
billharveyassociates.com
162. Rubira Bridge — Bill Harvey Associates Limited
Something really out-of-the-ordinary this month. Rubira Bridge in Rwanda is the first masonry bridge built under the auspices of Bridges to Prosperity (B2P). B2P kindly shared the weekly progress phot...
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Hamish Harvey @hamishharvey.bsky.social · 29/03/2025
Someone bit the sun.
A card slotted into a wooden post shows a bright circle with a missing crescent, being a projection of the partial eclipse.
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Peter Head @peterheadcbe.bsky.social · 19/03/2025
Call for moon power (tidal energy) to be exploited. apple.news/A2_MRemmQTye...
apple.news
Act now to turn ‘freak of geography’ into tidal energy, ministers told
Harnessing the Severn Estuary’s potential with the world’s first tidal energy lagoon could put Britain at forefront of a electricity revolution, a commission has found
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Lily Crowther @lilcrowther.bsky.social · 15/03/2025
Various gauges of mason were available for different tasks.
A sepia photograph, in which two men in Victorian dress (accompanied by various heavy objects) stand on the unfinished ends of a brick arch. They are posing jauntily, and one of them is wearing a top hat. A building site is visible through the arch.
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Hamish Harvey @hamishharvey.bsky.social · 09/03/2025
I suppose the "196 pound mason" is a standard size like a 14 pound sledge?
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Darren McLean @darrenmcleanuk.bsky.social · 09/03/2025
Funny what you stumble upon when you ain’t looking for it.
A closeup of the other photo, centered on the archA construction site. 1912
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Darren McLean @darrenmcleanuk.bsky.social · 05/03/2025
Not as seen here, it wasn’t necessary. There would have been a loadbearing wood lintel behind the arch. These were often used in low load situations.
The Dutch arch. This is a method of spanning an opening with ordinary bricks, which, although not cut to a wedge shape, require a certain amount of cutting to enable them to fit together, with parallel instead of radiating face joints. Its appearance is shown in Detail No. 22, but it is in no sense a true arch, because Its voussoirs are not of wedge shape and its joints are not radial from any definite point. It maintains its equilibrium and carries. minor loads mainly by the adhesion of the mortar in its joints and the automatic arching of the brickwork over it, due to its bonding.
It is not in very common use in the South of England, but manyexamples in cottage work may be seen in the Midlands and North of England.
Purpose made bricks for arches can readily be obtained from most brick manufacturers, and, since many brick arches are more or less standardized in form and span, they can often be picked from ordinary stock, especially for fat and cambered arches, for spans up to 3 ft. They are sometimes, however, made from slightly different clays than ordinary bricks, and consequently weather differently; and they frequently lack the qualities of texture obtained by cutting or axing the ordinary brick used for walling.A technical drawing of a brick arch beside the load-bearing timber lintel which is to the interior of the building.
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Darren McLean @darrenmcleanuk.bsky.social · 04/03/2025
I would like to remind you of the Dutch Arch.
A drawing of a ‘flat’ arch using diagonally laid bricks
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Hamish Harvey @hamishharvey.bsky.social · 01/03/2025
Nice piece from PHEW on the Brig o’ Doon www.ice.org.uk/what-is-civi...
ice.org.uk
The Brig O' Doon: The Bridge Saved By A Poet
The (Auld) Brig O’ Doon is a 15th century pre-reformation bridge spanning the River Doon in a single Roman-styled arch.
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Gareth Dennis @garethdennis.uk · 27/02/2025
Never forget that water was privatised by the Thatcher government based on nothing more than vibes...
Case for Privatisation

The balance of considerations to be weighed up in reaching a decision on the privatisation of the water authorities was summarised as follows in the report by officials:

The benefits of privatisation are of a general character freeing the water authorities from state control, motivating management and employees with a spirit of enterprise, increasing share ownership, and reducing the size of the public sector. But it must be noted that given the monopoly character of the water authorities in providing basic services, the scope for genuine competition does not exist except at the fringe nor is there great scope for further efficiency improvement in most water authority operations, except where this is the result of cost saving investment.
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Darren McLean @darrenmcleanuk.bsky.social · 26/02/2025
Lines.
St Paul's Cathedral facade drawn  c1841 with outlines drawingsAN 1841 drawing of Sailsbury cathedral, St. Peter's Caen and Freibourg cathedralThe Turrets of King's College, Cambridge 1841
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