Monasterevin bypass opening

stiofanD

Hey, I'm as happy as the next guy that I'll never see Monasterevin again, I'd just like to see the NRA getting their estimated finish date within 20% of the actual date. I'm sure the construction company that did the actual work had a pretty good idea when they'd finish, otherwise it'd be fairly difficult to manage their resources effectively.

LFCFan

was it really a year early though? Is it not just a year earlier than the second estimate (after the delays to the Kildare Bypass because of Snails)?

Flukey

One question: now that the Monastarevin bypass has opened, as always happens in these situations, where will the bottleneck be pushed on to?

stiofanD

Mountrath for Limerick traffic. Probably Abbeyleix for Cork Traffic

narommy

It splits on the portlaoise bypass so traffic shouldn't be bad

Also i heard that the contractors will save money in insurance for the site if finished early.

Also the design built allows them to get on with it rather than going back to the NRA for every little detail.

Also both conttractors have a good track record. Roadbridge brought in the kildare bypass early. Sisk brought in Celbridge early. Granted the weather does help matters.


Did any body see the article in indo over weekend where spanish guys on M4 motor way saying that Ireland is paying way over the odds for asthetic details. Fancy bridges and same colour concrete???????

jlang

The year ahead of schedule is a bit misleading in terms of the work - basically some of the work could only be done (easily) in the summer. They made excellent progress this summer and got it all done meaning the motorway could be finished and opened a few months later. If they hadn't, they would have had to leave that work till next summer, with the opening probably a couple of months after. The fact that the last couple of openings Ashford/Rathnew, Cashel etc all said pretty much the same leads me to believe them rather than think of a conspiracy.

Now if they start saying things will take 5 years and then opening them 3 years early, I'd be a lot more suspicious.

narommy

Yeah. I think that most of the road was laid nearly a year ago. Which helped them to build the bridges sooner/faster

narommy

From saturday's indo.

Minute details adding millions to construction costs, expert warns


IRELAND's obsession with the visual detail of major infrastructural works is increasing the building cost, a conference was told yesterday.

The concrete along miles of a new motorway, for example, must be a uniform colour - and the country is prepared to pay for it.

Ireland's tendering process is cumbersome, drawn-out and expensive, with the time between publication of tender documents and work beginning four times that of Spain.

Antonio De Santiago Perals, chief executive of Eurolink Motorway Operation, which is building the M4 Kilcock to Kinnegad motorway, told the Society of Chartered Surveyors that construction costs in Ireland were up to 40pc more expensive than in Spain.

Eurolink, he said, had built a 108km motorway in Canada at a cost of €378m, and a 98km carriageway in Madrid costing €220m, but the cost of the 37.2km M4 here in Ireland would be €300m by the project's end.

It was important to remember, he said, that on the Canadian motorway, which cost just €78m more than the M4, construction was forced to stop for four months a year because of snow. Construction costs were also more expensive here.

"In Ireland people think about the colour of the concrete so your supplier needs to get the concrete from the same quarry. Is it worth it?" he asked. "I'm saying it's a fact that the construction is much more expensive in Ireland than in Spain."

And he said that seeking planning permission was time consuming and complicated, with frequent requests for additional information. Meanwhile, the conference was also told that the compulsory purchase order process needed to be changed to make it more "user-friendly". It was recommended an agency with responsibility for CPOs be set up to streamline the process.

Paul Melia

parsi

"In Ireland people think about the colour of the concrete so your supplier needs to get the concrete from the same quarry. Is it worth it?" he asked. "I'm saying it's a fact that the construction is much more expensive in Ireland than in Spain."


A lot of it is to do with public perception - someone sees a flyover thats cast with differing coloured batches and they think "hmm... that looks patchy, must be dangerous" Same story in the Lee Tunnel - every drop of water is perceived as being the forebearer of a disatrous catastrophic flood...

Greenman

I saw the opening of the Monasterevin Bypass on the TV and maybe I've got it wrong but the central barrier looks like metal giders stuck into the ground and the metal wire strung between the upright girders!!!
Could someone clear this up as I feel if you ploughed into this barrier you'd be dioomed in comparsion to the continuous metal barrier rail that you would either bounce or skim against it!!!
Tell me I wrong about their central barrier effort.
I look forward to a reply or two!!!

sliabh

I am going down the road tomorrow, so I will be sure then, but from the publicity pictures I have seen the barrier design is pretty much the same as has been introduced on all the other motorways in the state in the last year. And as the nice man from the NRA was saying during the week, these meet the EU standards for such things.

From an Engineers standpoint (and as far as I know I am one :-) they will have comporable strength to the older heavier ones. This is because the impact force can be distributed along the length of the cable (tens of metres) and the vertical posts along that length. The older design barriers were bolted/riveted together so their lateral strength would be limited to the length of that section of barrier (a few metres). You were/are dependent primarily on the strength of the vertical posts right where the impact would occur.

Now I am not involved in their design so I am open to correction on this.

pclive

Bikers refer to these new barriers as "cheese graters" for obvious reasons

sliabh

pclive wrote:

Bikers refer to these new barriers as "cheese graters" for obvious reasons

Personally I can't see what the big problem is for bikers (not being smart/sarcastic or anything). What exactly is the gripe?

Crossley

I believe there are two issues for motorcyclists. Firstly, unlike traditional ARMCO barrier the stanchions which support the wire rope are completely exposed and there is ample opportunity for a wayward rider to become impaled. Secondly if he misses the stanchion there's the already mentioned human cheesecutter analogy.

For picture of post installation :-
http://www.brifen.co.uk/pictures/pages/204_jpg.htm

For more info see http://www.fema.nl/vangrail/ and http://www.brifen.co.uk

sliabh

So, essentially the concern is that these offer a change of concentrating the impact energy at a point vs over a surface?

Crossley wrote:

Secondly if he misses the stanchion there's the already mentioned human cheesecutter analogy.

The wires seem pretty close together for this to happen. Is this something that has been observed in the past?

narommy

http://www.brifen.co.uk/pictures/pages/223_jpg.htm

Start at this pic and then click next. It's interesting.

There is some amount of different types of barriers.


Edit- www.brifen.co.uk also has vidoes of the tests and the history of the system

sliabh

I liked this one for the camel crossing
Though considering the road location did they need a barrier?

On the cheese cutter thing, I can see how there can be a signifcant cut in by the ropes in a vehicle. But that is largely going to be due to the much larger inertia of a car/van/truck. That said the injuries to a biker will be nasty as the impact has to be distributed over a smaller area than with a "traditional" barrier. But I doubt they will be penatrating "cheesecutter" ones.

narommy

http://www.cskk.ezoshosting.com/cs/moto/wire-rope/

Another interestin link form down under.

loyatemu

armco barriers are designed for the vertical posts to collapse and absorb the energy of the crash while redirecting you back onto the road

not sure about these cable barriers.

narommy

loyatemu wrote:

armco barriers are designed for the vertical posts to collapse and absorb the energy of the crash while redirecting you back onto the road

not sure about these cable barriers.

Lookinng at the Briffen site above it looks like that's exactly what the wire rope version do.

zap

they are used on all new roads and are perfectly safe - lets face it if ya come off a motorcycle you don't have much of a chance even if you don't go near the barrier

robinph

zap wrote:

lets face it if ya come off a motorcycle you don't have much of a chance even if you don't go near the barrier

But its not the coming off the motorcycle that is going to kill you though, its the car behind you or the barrier that you crash into that will finish you off.
People come off their bikes all the time at bike races, but most of the time will get up and walk away OK with a couple of bruises.

daymobrew

zap wrote:

they are used on all new roads and are perfectly safe - lets face it if ya come off a motorcycle you don't have much of a chance even if you don't go near the barrier

Once I came off a bike in the US at 35 mph (leaning over too far while on freeway off-ramp).
I had appropriate protective gear (helmet, gloves, jacket and leggings). I slid a short distance and smacked my head. I got up and was fine, except for a minor headache and little torso muscle strain. The gear did its job brilliantly.
The biggest post-crash dangers are a car coming up behind you and/or hitting something, like a crash barrier. Sliding is the ideal way to decellerate (as long as your gear holds out - and good gear will).

People come off their bikes all the time at bike races, but most of the time will get up and walk away OK with a couple of bruises.

Exactly. If these riders hit a solid barrier the results would not be so nice.