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Cashel’s bottleneck blues
Limerick based civil engineering and construction company Roadbridge began
building the N8 Cashel bypass in Co Tipperary in 2003, which has an estimated
price tag of £29.5 million. Project engineer Pat McCarthy gave Irish
Trucker an insight into the complexities of the project.
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The N8 Cashel bypass and the accompanying N74 Link Road is the first
phase of the new N8 between Portlaoise and Watergrasshil in Co Cork. The
long-awaited bypass, which will greatly relieve traffic congestion in
a town renowned as a notorious traffic bottleneck extends for a distance
of 7 km from the townland of Knocksaintlour on the south side of the town
to Garryard on the north.
The N74 Link Road extends for a distance of 2km from the townland of Windmill
at its junction with the existing N8 to the townland of Horeabbey at its
junction with the N74.
The new N8 bypass will be constructed to dual-carriageway specifications
and will include two wide paved carriageways, hard shoulders, wide grass
margins and a wide median. The N74 Link Road will be a single carriageway
consisting of two lanes, two hard shoulders and two grass margins.
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The new N8, which will include three over-bridges and one under bridge
will take an estimated 7,200 vehicles out of the town of Cashel on a daily
basis. The new route, which was funded by the National Roads Authority
under the auspices of the Department of Transport, the National Development
Plan and the European Union's Regional Development Fund will take two
years to complete.
Roadbridge, formerly known as Pat Mulcair Civil Engineering has a proud
tradition in road construction. In the recent past the company has been
involved in notable road schemes such as the Kildare, Bunratty, Limerick
and Portlaoise bypasses. So it wasn't surprising when the company was
awarded the contract for the N8 Cashel bypass.
Pat commented: "Pat Mulcair Civil Engineering had been involved in
roadworks for the best part of 30 years, before it became a limited company
four years ago and changed its name to Roadbridge. The company has a proven
track record in this area, and we were all delighted when we were awarded
the contract."
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At
the height of the project some 200 people will be employed
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The company moved onto site in May 2003. Having set up its site offices,
Roadbridge fenced off the entire length of the bypass. "Once we fenced
off the site, we began top soil stripping, which was overseen by a team
of archaeologists on behalf of the National Roads Authority."
By their very nature heavy earth moving equipment and archaeologists don't
make happy bedfellows. However, Pat fully recognises the importance of
the archaelogists' contribution in protecting the country's heritage.
He commented on the challenges this can throw up for the company: "It
depends from contract to contract. If they find anything of significance
it can cause delays. However, they have an important job to do, so with
a little planning you can normally work around it."
In advance of the tendering process the company conducted site investigations
to determine the quality of the material along the route of the bypass,
so Roadbridge had a pretty good idea what it was likely to encounter.
"We carried out site investigations before tendering because this
was a design and build project. We needed to know the quality and quantity
of the materials along the course of the route so we could factor that
in to our tender,' he elaborated.
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The
project is due for completion in 2005
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As previously mentioned, the bypass will include three-over bridges and
an under-bridge. "We try to construct the road as far the bridge
so that we can gets trucks in and out. Each bridge will take about seven
months to complete so we need to start them early in the contract,"
he revealed.
On completion of the 'cut and fill' process, the company will begin raising
the level of the road with filling. "The job is planned so that the
rock excavated from the cut and fill is crushed on site to produce what
is known as a 'catting layer'. That is then covered with clause 804 which
is a finer material. That is graded to the required levels and tolerances,"
Pat added.
Each project throws up its own unique challenges. In this respect the
N8 Cashel bypass wasn't exceptional. "The drainage of this project
threw up some challenges to our design team. The rock excavation also
posed challenges. In the latter stages of the project, the rock will have
to be blasted," he revealed.
At the height of the project some 200 people and a veritable host of plant
and equipment will be employed on the project. Roadbridge will also utilise
specialist contractors in a number of areas such as rock blasting and
tarmac laying.
Hundreds of thousands of tonnes of earth and rock will be moved in the
process before the road begins to take shape. Thousands of motorists will
look on in anticipation and frustration as they try to negotiate the notorious
bottleneck that is Cashel.
However, all good things come to those who wait. The road will finally
begin to resemble a dual-carriageway when the tarmac is laid, crash barriers
erected and road markings put in place.
If the project runs to schedule it will be open to the public in the middle
of 2005, some two years after the official sod was turned. Long after
the official opening, the benefits of the N8 Cashel bypass will be felt
by thousands of motorists for generations to come.
Pat and all the team at Roadbridge will be justifiably proud.
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