M3 Clonee-Kells Motorway construction updates

CUCINA

Second attempt at above!

CUCINA

Close-up of cross-section of bridge.

CUCINA

I don't suppose road engineers are particularly religious but I'm sure the symbolism of this cross means more to them than it does to me!

CUCINA

Another view of the bridge with the 109 bus driving past in the direction of Fairyhouse.

CUCINA

And finally, for now anyway, a shot of what I assume is the river Tolka, flowing away from the camera, under the ramp leading up to the bridge from where the above photos were taken...

imeddyhobbs

I am working on this project and all the major work is now done.Since Saturday we can now drive the entire length of the motorway without having to use other roads,99 percent of the project is now covered in blacktop.Weather pending the motorway could be open by march 2010

burger1979

thats four months ahead of schedule (july 2010 is the finish date that i have in my head). what about all the work that has to happen at clonee and also the toll booths still to be done at the southern toll? when are these supposed to be finished?

Amtmann

THE CONTROVERSIAL M3 motorway in Co Meath, which has been the subject of several years of protests, is now almost 90 per cent complete, the National Roads Authority (NRA) has said.
At almost 60km of main motorway and a further 40km of link roads and interchanges, the it is one of the longest motorways under construction in Europe.
The M3 is not scheduled to open until July 2010. Work could still finish ahead of this scheduled date, but not before mid-spring next year, the NRA said.
Beginning at Clonee, north of the Dublin-Meath border, it runs to Kells where it switches to a motorway-grade dual carriageway for the last 10km to the Cavan border. It will have two toll booths, charging €1.40 for cars. Dunshaughlin, Navan and Kells are bypassed along the route.
Controversially, the route runs just over 2km from the Hill of Tara, and adjacent to the Lismullin national monument and the hill fort of Rath Lugh.
Protesters have occupied these latter two sites, blocking the road’s construction at various times in recent years, most memorably in March last year when conservationist Lisa Feeney, known as “Squeak” shut herself inside a chamber at the bottom of a 33-foot tunnel at Rath Lugh for 60 hours.
No protesters are currently blocking or picketing any part of the motorway, and Vincent Salafia of Tarawatch said that such action is unlikely to recur. “The frontline part of the campaign is pretty much over. There are people still protesting in the area, but not on the front line of the road. At this stage any protest on the road would be a largely symbolic gesture, but that doesn’t mean the campaign is over.”
Recent changes to the criminal trespass laws had made such protests more difficult, Mr Salafia said, but he said Tarawatch was continuing to campaign against the road and hoped it might still be moved, even after its construction.
Moving the road would be a possibility particularly if the Hill of Tara received Unesco World Heritage designation, Mr Salafia said. Tarawatch was also continuing to bring complaints against the NRA to EU bodies in relation to the destruction of ancient archaeology and heritage.
Mr Salafia has criticised the cost to the taxpayer of the motorway. He said this will amount to €727.4 million over the life of the toll contract with Eurolink, which ends in 2052.
However, NRA spokesman Seán O’Neill said Mr Salafia’s claims were a distortion of the facts. The road would cost about €720 million if Eurolink had not been involved and the cost was borne entirely by the State. “In fact only €250 million is being paid up front; the rest of the cost is being borne by the contractor . . . Distorting the figures doesn’t benefit the public, what benefits the public is the construction of a new, safe, value for money motorway.”

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/0916/1224254649277.html

CUCINA

Apart from certain politicians, there are two people in Ireland who I wish would just disappear from public life, one is Declan Ganley (back like a bad penny)...and the other is Vincent Salifia. AFAIK, he lives in Churchtown so I don't think the noise of traffic from the M3 will keep him awake at night. If he had been successful in the early days of this protest, he would by now probably be involved in some other tree-hugging escapade in some other part of the country.
There is a certain amount of justification in each of their stances but they are stretching their point way beyond public tolerance, I believe, so they have lost the sympathy vote. It's time to move on...

GeneHunt

I was just reading this article in The Irish Times today. The aerial photo is of the Pace interchange and Dunboyne by-pass which only opened late last week.

The by-pass road is the road running up to the right hand corner of this photo. (Clonee is to the left, Dunshaughlin to the right of this photo. Centre right of the photo (brown area) is the future Pace station carpark, entrance from roundabout just off the main junction. You can also the frame work of the Pace station and the rail line which runs beneath the main interchange roundabout. It would be good to get this photo up here!

GeneHunt

Duh, just found the photo with the article online. thanks furet for the link.

brandodub

CUCINA wrote: »

Apart from certain politicians, there are two people in Ireland who I wish would just disappear from public life, one is Declan Ganley (back like a bad penny)...and the other is Vincent Salifia. AFAIK, he lives in Churchtown so I don't think the noise of traffic from the M3 will keep him awake at night. If he had been successful in the early days of this protest, he would by now probably be involved in some other tree-hugging escapade in some other part of the country.
There is a certain amount of justification in each of their stances but they are stretching their point way beyond public tolerance, I believe, so they have lost the sympathy vote. It's time to move on...

Agree totally. Its needed and necessary for the future of ALL of Meath and the East Coast in general. Well done to the workers I say-March 2010 brilliant:)

impr0v

CUCINA wrote: »

I don't suppose road engineers are particularly religious but I'm sure the symbolism of this cross means more to them than it does to me!

Ch620 refers to the chainage - that point is 620 metres from the start of that particular link road (I'm presuming it's not the mainline).

FRL refers to Finished Road Level - at the line indicated.

3m o/s EOB, I'm not sure. It potentially means that that point is 3m offset from the edge of the batter (side slope to the embankment), but could be something else entirely.

CUCINA

Took some more photos today around the old Dunboyne one-way bridge. I was quite surprised at how much the immediate landscape has changed already since the bridge was closed only last weeklast week.
This first photo shows the bridge viewed from alongside the rear of the Emo garage on the left hand side.

CUCINA

Closer view of above...notice that the traffic lights are still in operation!

CUCINA

Took this photo with my back to the bridge, in the direction of the N3, with the Emo garage on my RHS.

CUCINA

This shot is taken from the top of the old bridge, looking towards the new Pace train station.

CUCINA

Closer view of above...

CUCINA

Last one...taken from the old bridge, on the other side, looking at the future train track leading to Dunboyne station.

bg07

CUCINA wrote: »

Took some more photos today around the old Dunboyne one-way bridge. I was quite surprised at how much the immediate landscape has changed already since the bridge was closed only last weeklast week.
This first photo shows the bridge viewed from alongside the rear of the Emo garage on the left hand side.

What will be the fate of that bridge. Will it be left or knocked. I presume it will be knocked to allow for electrification of the rail line in the future.

gebbel

Can anyone tell me roughly when will the M3 open?
Thanks

IIMII

bg07 wrote: »

What will be the fate of that bridge. Will it be left or knocked. I presume it will be knocked to allow for electrification of the rail line in the future.

It'll be knocked.

July 2010 is the date for the M3 opening which has been given, though I think the section up to the Dunboyne exit will open soon

imeddyhobbs

gebbel wrote: »

Can anyone tell me roughly when will the M3 open?
Thanks

Weather pending the motorway will be open in April 2010.
The wearing course is planned to start in march 2010 or sooner,weather conditions apply.These dates have recently been finalised by motorway operator eurolink.

CUCINA

I see that they have now erected those big white tubular steel arches at the Fairyhouse toll. They look reasonably spectacular but it all seems a little extravagant...I'm all for the M3 and all that but the expense of it all does seem a bit OTT, especially in hindsight.
Take the part of the M3 build that I have been watching and would be more familiar with, which is Dunshaughlin/Fairyhouse/Dunboyne; two bridges at a million euros a pop, one exclusively for a farmer to bring his cattle from one side of a field to the other, and another with the sole function of providing access to the Rathbeggan lakes amenity area.
I'd say if you saw a transcript of the negotiations that took place between the toll operators and the Government a few years, you'd cringe now at the figures that must have been bandied about against the back-drop of the Celtic Tiger...
Soon it will be payback time when either as motorists or taxpayers we will be compensating both parties for their excesses..

burger1979

i'm sure those structures are not cheap but i also think they are the type used on m1 too. also are they the structures that are going to be used at the northern toll end and also the tolls at the on/off ramps? i was driving by it last night and had a quick peep through the window at it and there only seems to be 5 lanes of road going through the toll. this doesnt seem like alot considering the amount of traffic that is going to be going through it??? must note though that it was only the briefest of looks after leaving the round about and heading towards navan. might stop off there this evening to get a better look.

GeneHunt

I noticed that the northbound side of the M3 was getting surfaced late last week near the Dunshaughlin/ R125 Junction (Junction 6 I think). The northbound on and off ramps were also surfaced, there’s still another layer to go however, so don’t get too excited. But, I was expecting to see a toll booth to be build on the northbound “on ramp” towards Navan, like the M8 (Fermoy Bypass) or the M1 (Drogheda). I know where the two Toll Plazas are, but can anyone (maybe imeddyhobbs can) confirm if any junctions are to have toll booths? Or is the M3 toll free between Dunshaughlin and Navan?

clon

latest newsletter from july 09,don't know if this was posted already.

http://www.eurolink-m3.ie/newsletter/Eurolink_5_Jul_09.pdf

Amtmann

That's the N7 newsletter Clon.

D'Peoples Voice

Furet wrote: »

That's the N7 newsletter Clon.

ah, I was thinking that alright when I saw Limerick in the title of the link in the post,
I knew they wanted to avoid Tara, but that would have been a little extreme;)

Amtmann

Click it again