A uniform motorway

Work on the Northern Motorway Project (N1 Drogheda Bypass) running from Gormanston in Co. Meath to Monasterboice in Co Louth began in April 2000 and is due for completion in the second quarter of 2003. The 21.5km motorway was broken down into three separate contracts. John Loughran speaks with Gary Curran, assistant project manager, with Uniform Construction, the company that was awarded the contract to build 6.5 km of the motorway from north of the Boyne just outside Drogheda.

The Northern Motorway Project (N1 Drogheda Bypass) is one of the biggest civil engineering projects undertaken in Ireland under the National Development Plan. When completed the euro 240 million project will form a strategic part of Euroroute EO1 which runs along the eastern seaboard, linking the major international seaports of Larne, Dublin and Rosslare and the major airports of Dublin and Belfast.

The motorway will significantly reduce journey times between Dublin and Belfast, leading to savings in transport costs and will remove ‘through traffic’ from Drogheda and the village of Julianstown, having a beneficial effect on noise and air pollution in the area.

Part of the Uniform team, l/r: Declan Murphy, Aidan Gaynor, John Duffy, Michael Duffy, Gary Curran, Philip Doherty

The new motorway will improve the quality of life for the communities living in its hinterland, and will increase road safety for both commuters and pedestrians alike.
Given the sheer enormity and scale of the project, it is little wonder the National Roads Authority opted to divide the project into three separate contracts - No.s 6,7 and 8.

Uniform Construction was awarded the section of the scheme referred as Contract No.8 which included 6.5km of motorway and 4.5km of national roads and side roads and the construction of eight bridge/underpasses north of the Boyne.

Uniform Construction mobilised its site team at the beginning of April 2000. The company’s first task was to establish mobile site offices, including services such as electricity, telephone, water supply and sewerage connection. These site offices became the nerve centre of operations for the duration of the project.

“We then began a series of consultations with the landowners affected by the route to address any concerns they had and to inform them of exactly what we’re going to do. That process lasted for about two weeks. However, our liaison officer was in daily contact with the landowners throughout,” Gary explained.

Utilising the services of a specialist contractor, the entire route was then fenced off. “On a project of this size we would use specialist contractors in a number of areas. We employed the services of a specialist fencing company because of the amount of fencing that had to be done,” he added.
It had been argued that the development of motorways and major road schemes has robbed the country of many sites of archeological significance - Carrickmines Castle on the site of the South Eastern Motorway being a case in point.

Gary explained that a team of archaeologists oversaw the next stage of the project. “When the fencing was completed the company began topsoil stripping along the entire length of the route. A team of archaeologists supervised this stage of the project. They watched every sod being turned and identified areas of archeological interest. At one stage there was a team of 55 archaeologists working on site.”

At a cursory glance archaeology and road construction don’t make happy bedfellows. Their co-existence in terms of the project threw up many challenges for Uniform Construction and indeed the archaeologists. “The biggest challenges we encountered were having to work around the various archeological finds. The locations of the finds also threw up challenges. There was a team of archaeologists working on the project for the best part of a year and two months. However, that is part and parcel of road construction in Ireland and we worked together to a common goal.”

The 6.5km of motorway was built to what is known in the trade as a “cut and fill” design. “That means excavating the hills and using the material to fill the hollows. That reduces the amount of materials that need to be imported for the project,” Gary revealed.
Simultaneously, the company carried out “pre-earthworks drainage. “If you are going to fill a hollow, you can create drainage problems for the fields on either side. It is therefore important to drain these areas before you fill them,” Gary noted.

While the “cut and fill” team developed the course of the route, a “structures team” was charged with the task of constructing the various bridges and underpasses along the route. Gary commented: “There were eight structures on this project (over and under bridges). Ideally you would like to get these structures started within two months of the start of the project. These structures were constructed in tandem with the earth works.”

To make the most efficient use of the time available to complete the project many activities are carried out simultaneously. “To expedite the amount of time available everything is condensed into the smallest possible timeframe.

In general when we have about 1km of ‘cut and fill’ completed, we start importing the various categories of stone that are required for the job. While other areas of cut and fill are ongoing, we are already working on the completed areas. That includes drainage works and so on,” Gary elaborated.
While a project of this nature might seem a logistical nightmare to the layman Gary explained that timing and planning is of the essence. “The whole project takes on a natural sequence of events, through planning and timing. In general this project ran very smoothly.”

“It threw up a number of challenges, firstly because of its location in relation to the Boyne and its possible archeological significance. Secondly because it entailed the upgrading of 4.5km of national and secondary roads and thirdly because of the increase in traffic in the Louth area in the past few years.

All these factors had an impact on the project, but all-in-all we are very happy.”
At the peak of the project Uniform Construction employed a staff of 120 people as well as 80 sub-contractors. Gary is fulsome in his praise of everybody associated with the scheme. He also recognises the efforts of the consultants and resident engineer involved with the project.

“The rapport that Uniform Construction developed with North Consult and Kevin O’Rourke made a positive contribution to the project. We had a very good working relationship in terms of lateral thinking and problem solving and that needs to be acknowledged.”

At the time of writing (mid-November) Gary was happy to report that Contract No.8 was close to completion and will be opened in conjunction with Contract No. 6 and No. 8 in the second quarter of next year.