New M50 Road Surface

AlanD

I'm not a regular M50 driver, but I've been on it 3/4 times since the opened the 3 lane section passing by the mad cow roundabout.

Has anyone else noticed how bockety (best description I could think of) the road surface is. It just bobbles along there. The surface is far from smooth. It's pretty bad coming from Firhouse going north and gets a little better past the mad cow.

Anyone? I think it's disgraceful that the finish is as poor as it is.

Cionád

There was a thread on this a few weeks back.

Here: (dunno why the link has squibble in it!) http://squibble.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=55763503

Tropheus

I noticed it, but it's not that bad. The M1 north of the airport is a lot worse. Not as bad now as it seems to have flattened out over time. First time I drove on it I thought I had a puncture.

Steve

Yeah, drove it last w'end. it's terrible, not worthy of the name 'motorway'.

AlanD

Cionád wrote: »

There was a thread on this a few weeks back.

Here: (dunno why the link has squibble in it!) http://squibble.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=55763503

sorry, didn't realise. Thanks for the link.

Still a crap road surface. I mean, when you know how to lay a road, why can't the road you lay always be perfect?

Sundy

AlanD wrote: »

sorry, didn't realise. Thanks for the link.

Still a crap road surface. I mean, when you know how to lay a road, why can't the road you lay always be perfect?

Because you get a combination of errors that results in a bumpy road.

First theres the design stage, looks great in theory, ridiclous in practice.

Secondly it has to be set out using marks on steel pins. These get knocked and moved regularly by machine operators who never tell anybody. Also if the its late in the day or getting dark errors can come into play.

And finaly the road surface crew who are responsable for measuring the correct dept of tar and laying it. More room for error and lots of the M50 was done at night.

And contary to what bendihorse is suggestin in that link, the final surface is on the M50, otherwise know as wearing course. Another layer would make no difference as its the lower layers of tarmac that have the biggest impact on having a flat surface.

Wertz

ksimpson wrote: »

I noticed it, but it's not that bad. The M1 north of the airport is a lot worse. Not as bad now as it seems to have flattened out over time. First time I drove on it I thought I had a puncture.

Yeah, there's a bit after you pass the slip road from the malahide estuary heading northbound that gives the distinct impression that you''ve just run over a stinger...

10-10-20

It begs the question - how come every other country has flat motorways, but the Irish get bog roads, and that's an acceptable standard...?

Rowley Birkin QC

Sundy wrote: »

Secondly it has to be set out using marks on steel pins. These get knocked and moved regularly by machine operators who never tell anybody.

In fairness Sundy those pins are often never checked again by engineers once they are placed, only when something goes wrong do they turn the blame back to the machine operators.

Anyway there has to be a better system for getting dip levels then a re-bar with two bits of insulating tape on it.

Theres a bit of the Malahide Rd. thats completely wonky, just coming up to Donnycarney church heading North, car shakes like a jelly with parkinsons just at that point.

Sundy

bigkev49 wrote: »

In fairness Sundy those pins are often never checked again by engineers once they are placed, only when something goes wrong do they turn the blame back to the machine operators.

Anyway there has to be a better system for getting dip levels then a re-bar with two bits of insulating tape on it.

Theres a bit of the Malahide Rd. thats completely wonky, just coming up to Donnycarney church heading North, car shakes like a jelly with parkinsons just at that point.

Its probably the best way there is right now for getting dip levels and certainly the most accurate way of setting out the level. The big problem is there set out sometimes maybe a week or a few days before any tar is laid which is ridiclous. leaving a big window for something to get moved.

And in fairness machine operators are awful for knocking pins and worse still when i was working on the M50 i saw drivers get down out of their cabs and straighten the pin back up, that will be one bump accounted for anyway on the M50. Ive heard of one company that is fining their drivers for knocking over pins and profiles.

G-Money

I was on the M50 about a week and a half ago for the first time in a few months and I actually thought the 3 lane section felt quite good to drive on, I definitely didn't notice much wrong with it.

My only "complaint" was that because it's not finished, I wasn't sure if the 3rd lane was actually open or not. It seemed to be but not many people were driving on it so I wasn't sure if it was open or not. I guess it didn't really matter as we know that lane is only for breaking the speed limit even more.

Ever notice how they have a reduced speed limit for the roadworks but absolutely no-one sticks to it. Come to think of it, even on finished motorways, no-one sticks to the speed limits. I have been on the M1 in the "slow" lane on the limit at 120kph and still had cars speeding past me in the overtaking lane. Obviously they are at least 20-30kph over the speed limit.

I reckon if the cops had speed cameras on all the motorways and gave penalty points to everyone who broke the speed limits, half of the country would get 12 points on their license and be banned by morning.