All DART, Commuter and Rosslare InterCity services return to normal

Victor

http://www.rte.ie/news/2004/0202/crane.html

Efforts to make crane safe continue
February 2, 2004

(07:43) Efforts are still under way to make safe a building crane that became unstable yesterday and threatened to fall on houses in Ringsend, south Dublin.

About 60 people had to spend the night away from their homes at Barrow Street because of fears that the structure would collapse.

The nearby railway line is also under threat, and there are no DART services this morning between Pearse and Lansdowne Road stations.

Iarnród Éireann says it is unable to offer a bus services between the two stations.

A curtailed DART service is operating between Lansdowne Road and Greystones.

Northside DART services are also subject to minor delays.

Last night, the Dublin Fire Brigade has said that two cranes had been brought to the area, one from Chapelizod in Dublin and the other from Monaghan, to help bring the broken crane down.

Victor

http://www.irishrail.ie/news_centre/travel_alerts.asp?action=view&news_id=80

No rail services between Pearse and Lansdowne Rd, Monday 2nd Feb, due to Ringsend construction site by Press Office


UPDATE Monday 2nd February, 07.00hrs

Iarnród Éireann has said that no rail services will operate between Pearse and Lansdowne Road Stations today (Monday 2nd February) due to safety concerns over the damaged crane at a Ringsend construction site adjacent to the DART line.

The crane is unstable, and could threaten the line south of Grand Canal Dock Station if a collapse occurred. Iarnród Éireann engineers will remain on site to assess the situation, and are liaising with building site engineers and representatives of the Health and Safety Authority.

Details of today's services are as follows:

- DART Services will not operate between Pearse and Lansdowne Road. A curtailed service will operate between Lansdowne Road and Bray/Greystones. DARTs will operate every 20 minutes from Bray (on the hour, 20 past and 20 to), and from Lansdowne at 05, 25 and 45 past the hour. A DART train will operate from Greystones every half hour.

Normal Northside services will operate between Howth and Malahide and Connolly Station, and will be subject to minor delays.

- Northern and Maynooth line Commuter services Services will operate to and from Pearse Stations, and will be subject to minor delays. Commuter services on these routes will not operate south of Pearse Station.

- Rosslare InterCity and Gorey Commuter services Rosslare Services will be part substituted by bus between Connolly and Greystones. Gorey commuters will travel by train from Gorey to Greystones, and transfer onto a DART service.

Customers are advised to check this website, or listen to TV and radio news and traffic / travel bulletins for the latest update.

Iarnród Éireann apologises to customers for the unavoidable inconvenience which may result. The suspension of services will be lifted as soon as our engineers are satisfied that trains can safely operate through the area.

Victor

http://home.eircom.net/content/irelandcom/breaking/2458004?view=Eircomnet

Rail disruption after Ringsend crane collapse
From:ireland.com
Monday, 2nd February, 2004

Work will recommence this morning on clearing a partially-collapsed crane from Ringsend in Dublin.

Around 70 residents from Barrow Street and Grand Canal Street spent last night in a hotel after they were evacuated over fears the structure could topple, crushing their homes.

Attempts were made throughout yesterday to dismantle the arm of the crane which snapped off at 11 a.m.

Larger cranes were deployed but strong winds and fading light prevented the whole structure being removed and work resumes at first light today. Part of the crane remained suspended over a bridge overnight.

There will be rail and traffic disruption until the removal work is complete.

The rail line between Pearse and Sydney Parade stations will be closed for the day and a limited service will operate between Lansdowne Road and Bray/Greystones.

Northside services will be subject to delays.

Northern and Maynooth line commuter services are expected to be subject to delays and the Rosslare InterCity and Gorey Commuter Services will be partly or fully substituted by bus.

ixoy

Was this one of the cranes at the new appartment block site beside Grand Canal Dock station?

uberwolf

yep. Darts were unpleasant this morn to say the least

BrianD

A fine for disruption of public services should be built in as part of the planning permission. If the developer was looking at a fine of €1m per day he would certainly keep his cranes in order!

dmeehan

I assume Irish Rail will be able to recoup some compensation from the developer (or his insurance company) or will they just ask for another handout from the govt?

ixoy

Originally posted by dmeehan
I assume Irish Rail will be able to recoup some compensation from the developer (or his insurance company) or will they just ask for another handout from the govt?

Why ask for a handout from the government when they can increase our ticket prices instead :rolleyes:

ixoy

Just to let you know, the problem is still there all tomorrow morning at least! Yay! You go Ireland!

MrPudding

Originally posted by ixoy
Just to let you know, the problem is still there all tomorrow morning at least! Yay! You go Ireland!

Not trying to defend anyone or any company here, but, what do you want them to do? Have you seen how windy it is? The HSA does not allow cranes to be used in wind like this this has nothing to do with the company involved. Unless Clark Kent puts in an appearance or health and safety rules get broken the crane will be there until the wind drops.

MrP

egan007

i beg to disagree crane or no crane this would not still be the case in most other countries - england for example tehre is no way it's main comuterline would be blocked

MrPudding

Originally posted by egan007
i beg to disagree crane or no crane this would not still be the case in most other countries - england for example tehre is no way it's main comuterline would be blocked

OK. Fair enough. What would they do differently in England?

MrP

egan007

Originally posted by MrPudding
OK. Fair enough. What would they do differently in England?

MrP

I'm not an engineer - but if i was a competent one i would figure it out - there is more that one way to skin a cat but in ireland we won't do it unless we have gloves and a sharp knife

MrPudding

My understanding of the affair is that only the removal of the offending jib is acceptable. There may be another way around this, ie propping up the jib as a tempory fix to allow the trains to run. This sound good on paper but what if it falls on a passing train? Everyone complaining now about the cancelations would be calling for prosecution of whoever was responsible. Given the Irish love of sueing I fell the way they are handleing this is the right way. The over-riding concern is safety. Is there is any risk of further damage or loss of life then it is unacceptable. Further, I would argue that had this happened in the UK it would be handled the same way.

MrP

MrPudding

Damn my spelling in that last post is awful.

MrP

egan007

If moving it is the only option and i was a competent engineer i would find a way to move it without a crane.

BrianD

Judging by the photos in the press, the jib is twisted beyond repair and can only be removed safely by another crane. The high winds are preventing this happening.

I wonder is IR will sue the developer? Ironically, while the public like to sue public companpies the same public companies don't seem to have the ability to sue private companies or individuals.

MrPudding

Originally posted by egan007
If moving it is the only option and i was a competent engineer i would find a way to move it without a crane.

That is like saying "Pah why can we not go to Mars, if I were a competent rocket scientist I would find a way of getting there." The key here is that you are not a competent engineer. They have competent engineers but their hands are tied.

Engineering skills are not short here, it is weather control skills that are lacking.

MrP

BendiBus

Originally posted by egan007
If moving it is the only option and i was a competent engineer i would find a way to move it without a crane.

I think the key point is that you are NOT an engineer. You don't know what you're talking about.

Tbh, its completely stupid to think this would be done differently elsewhere. On what basis do you make that comment? The "fact" that we're not as good as other people at doing stuff? :rolleyes:

Ro

I did Structural Engineering in college with a bit of crane design. So I'll throw in my 2c. It looks like the cable at the top of the crane gave away causing the jib to drop and buckle. The main structure is still fully intact so the chances of the whole crane being blown over onto the DART line are minimal. What they should do at this point if they can't get it down is secure the crane with cables.

I also agree with Brian that the people in charge of that crane should be held responsible for this and should be forced to pay up. It took me an extra 20 mins to work this morning, multiply that by the 80,000 people that use the DART every day and by the average industrial wage of about €15 and you get the nice figure of €400,000 going down the toilet for every day this goes on.

Edit: I've just seen a picture of the crane in the paper and the main cable at the top hasn't snapped so there's even less chance of it collapsing.

commuterised

I have to say it was a novel idea to get on a train at lansdowne road yesterday evening at 5.30 and get a seat straight away. They should start south bound trains here every day!!

ixoy

I also had a novel idea when I had to board the bus yesterday and today, increasing my journey time immensely. It involved guns, explosive, blood, and the heads of Danniger [sp?]

Victor

http://home.eircom.net/content/irelandcom/topstories/2465550?view=Eircomnet

Unstable crane to cause further rail delays today
From:ireland.com
Tuesday, 3rd February, 2004

Some 25,000 DART and mainline rail commuters will again be affected by major disruption today as work continues on securing an unstable crane at a building site close to the train tracks at Ringsend.

High winds prevented Health and Safety officers from dismantling or stabilising the 200 foot crane last night and there are doubts over whether they will be able to complete the job today as Met Éireann forecasts "severe and potentially damaging gusts" throughout the day.

A spokeswoman for the Health and Safety Authority said officers would be "reappraising the situation" this morning.

A large section of the crane broke off and was left swinging at the Danninger Ltd site at the old Gasworks at Barrow Street Dublin at 11 a.m. on Sunday.

Some 60 residents had to be evacuated from Barrow Street amid fears that the crane would topple onto their houses.

They were allowed back into their homes briefly yesterday afternoon to collect belongings before spending a second night at the Mespil Hotel, Dublin. A spokesman for the hotel said their bill was being paid by Zoe Developments Ltd.

Iarnród Éireann has had to close the line between Pearse Street and Lansdowne Road stations. This will remain out of use at least until lunchtime today, company spokesman, Mr Barry Kenny, said.

Mr Kenny estimates that some 25,000 passengers - mainly DART users but also commuters from Wicklow, Wexford and Louth - will be affected each day. He was unable to say how much money the company was losing due to the accident.

When asked if Iarnród Éireann would be pursuing Danninger Ltd for its losses, he said: "Our first priority is to get the service back up and running, then we will be examining what further options we have in that direction."

Mr Kenny was also critical of the lack of communication from Danninger Ltd. "We're the only people telling the public what's happening.

"Residents have been discommoded, commuters have been discommoded. They (Danninger Ltd) could have been more forthcoming with information."

Danninger Ltd could not be contacted at their Dublin offices yesterday.

The rail line between Pearse Street and Lansdowne stations will be out of use until at least lunchtime today. A curtailed service will operate between Lansdowne Road and Bray/Greystones.

Northside services will operate between Howth and Malahide and Connolly or Pearse Stations, but will be subject to delays.

A shuttle bus will operate between the Corn Exchange on Burgh Quay to Landsdowne Road Station at peak times, but Mr Kenny said he expected capacity difficulties.

Northern and Maynooth line commuter services will operate to and from Connolly or Pearse stations, but delays are expected. Commuter services on these routes will not operate south of Pearse Station.

Rosslare InterCity and Gorey Commuter Services will be part or fully substituted by bus.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2004/0203/dart.html

Gormley wants crane fall debated in Dáil
February 3, 2004

(19:10) Green Party TD John Gormley has called for a Dáil debate on the disruption caused to the local community and commuters by the Ringsend crane accident.

Mr Gormley said he wanted to know who would pick up the tab for the two day closure of the DART service in the area, the disruption and inconvenience to residents and commuters, and overtime for gardaí, Fire Brigade and Health and Safety officers.

Mr Gormley said residents were frustrated and annoyed that they may be facing a third night in a hotel, and wanted to know why they had to be evacuated when some businesses in the area were allowed to continue operating.

Iarnród Éireann has said there will be no rail services between Pearse and Lansdowne Road stations for the rest of the day due to the damaged crane.

The company says its engineers are at the building site and are liaising with representatives of the Health and Safety Authority as well as site engineers.

Work to bring down the damaged crane was not scheduled to begin until the high winds had eased.

Iarnród Éireann said the work was due to begin at 6pm this evening. If it is successful, the company says it hopes to have services operating normally again tomorrow morning.

A limited shuttle bus service is running between Pearse and Lansdowne Road stations, while there is a curtailed service between Lansdowne, Bray and Greystones.

Iarnród Éireann earlier called on the site developers, Danninger Ltd, to be more forthcoming to the public and to the media about the plan of action to secure the crane.

A spokesperson said the only organisation that was telling the public what was happening in any detail was Iarnród Éireann, even though the damaged crane and its impact on thousands of commuters and on local residents was the developers' responsibility.

http://home.eircom.net/content/irelandcom/breaking/2467192?view=Eircomnet

Crane firm urged to be 'more forthcoming'
From:ireland.com
Tuesday, 3rd February, 2004

Iarnród Éireann has called on the company responsible for the partially collapsed crane that has brought some rail services in Dublin to a halt to be "more forthcoming" with the public.

No rail services are operating between Pearse and Lansdowne Road stations for a second day running as Iarnród Éireann believes the crane, operated by developers Danninger Ltd, continues to pose a safety risk.

Other rail services are also suffering delays and Iarnrod Eireann has apologised to passengers for the inconvenience.

Work on the crane is temporarily on hold this morning due to the difficulties posed by high winds. Around 60 residents from Barrow Street in Ringsend were evacuated from their homes after the partial collapse of the crane on Sunday morning for fear it would fall onto their houses.

The residents spent a second night in the Mespil Hotel last night. Their bill is being paid by Zoe Developments Ltd., a sister company of Danninger.

This morning Iarnród Éireann called on Danninger Ltd to be "more forthcoming to the public and media abut the plan of action to secure the crane".

"The only organisation that is telling the public what is happening on the site in any detail is Iarnród Éireann, when the damaged crane, and its impact on thousands of commuters and the evacuated residents of the area, is the responsibility of Danninger," the company said.

"It is incumbent upon Danninger to better communicate with those who are discommoded by this incident."

"The crane is unstable, and could threaten the line south of Grand Canal Dock Station if a collapse occurred. Iarnród Éireann engineers will remain on site to assess the situation, and are liaising with building site engineers and representatives of the Health and Safety Authority," Iarnród Éireann said.

"The line will not reopen until the HSA and authorities have advised that the crane is secured. It has been confirmed to Iarnród Éireann that work to stabilise the crane was planned for this morning, but is currently on hold due to the high winds."

Danninger Ltd could not be contacted for comment at its Dublin office this morning.

Full details of the DART and rail services affected by the work on the crane are available at Iarnród Éireann's website at www.irishrail.ie

Victor

http://www.irishrail.ie/news_centre/travel_alerts.asp?action=view&news_id=80

All DART, Commuter and Rosslare InterCity services return to normal after crane accident
by Press Office

UPDATE Wednesday 4th February, 04.00hrs

Iarnród Éireann is delighted to confirm that all DART, Commuter and Rosslare InterCity services will operate normally today, following the succesful work overnight to stabilise the damaged crane at a Ringsend building site adjacent to the DART line.

Services had been disrupted since Sunday lunchtime, when the damage occurred, and the threat of a crane collapse onto the DART line south of Grand Canal Dock caused the line to be closed between Pearse and Lansdowne Road stations.

Iarnród Éireann apologises to all DART, Commuter and Rosslare InterCity customers who were inconvenienced by the disruption since Sunday, and thanks customers for their patience and understanding of the situation.

Victor

http://home.eircom.net/content/irelandcom/topstories/2479306?view=Eircomnet

Iarnrod Eireann to bill crane owners for over €150,000
From:ireland.com
Thursday, 5th February, 2004

Iarnród Éireann will bill the owners of a crane that partially collapsed near train tracks in Ringsend, Dublin at the weekend, for the loss of more than €150,000 in ticket revenue. Kitty Holland and Dominic Coyle report

Mr Barry Kenny, spokesman for Iarnród Éireann, said yesterday the cancellation of some DART services, as well as commuter services from Kildare, Louth, Meath, Wicklow and Wexford, over a three-day period had cost the company "at least €150,000" and added that Danniger Ltd, the company that owns both the Ringsend building site and the crane, "would be getting a bill".

Danniger is run by one of the State's most controversial builders, Mr Liam Carroll. Mr Carroll is better known for its sister company, Zoe Developments, which was at the forefront of the apartment building blitz in Dublin in the 1990s. Danniger is owned by Vantive Holdings (Mr Carroll and his wife Roisin) and by a Jersey company, Stradbally Investment Company.

After persistent breaches of safety regulations and the death of a worker on a Zoe site, a High Court judge told Mr Carroll in 1997 that Zoe was "a criminal, and a recidivist criminal at that, and is so thanks to you". The company had been taken to court by the National Authority for Occupational Safety and Health which successfully sought an injunction to stop work on a company site until safety measures were put in place.

The crane's partial collapse severely curtailed train services on the southside of the city from Sunday morning. The crane partially collapsed in the Barrow Street area, leaving a large section swinging in high winds. It forced the evacuation of 60 nearby houses though a degree of normality returned yesterday morning when the structure was stabilised.

Mr Damien Reville, a spokesman for Danniger Ltd, said up to 40 technicians had been working on dismantling the crane and that at 4 a.m. yesterday morning removal of the ballast, which included a nine-tonne counter balance, had been achieved.

"This increases the stability of the crane by multiples, I'm told. The lifting of the Health and Safety Authority evacuation order is testament to this," he said. The authority confirmed this decision. Following a meeting with residents from Emerald Cottages and Barrow Street yesterday morning they were able to re- turn to their homes at about 9 a.m. They had been ac- commodated in the nearby Mespil Hotel since Sunday.

Danniger Ltd contacted Iarnród Éireann at 5 a.m. yesterday and trains resumed normal services. Mr Reville said the crane had now been rigged and would be fully dismantled over the coming days.

uberwolf

good, I believe the same was discussed earlier in the thread. No apology forthcoming from the company though for the thousands inconvenienced though?

Capt'n Midnight

Zoe - Again.. :mad:

How can these people be allowed to continually ignore safety - unless directors are held accountable people will continue to be hurt, maimed and killed. Unfortuatley this tarnishes the rest of the construction industry.

€150,000 - that's like a single room on one of the apartments in that area - petty cash.

concerned individual

well here is some interesting facts about this accident.1 the jib pin became loose on the jib section,2 this put extra weight on the top pin and other bottom pin on the jib.3 the wind also became a serious factor in the collapse,4 with the wind rocking the crane in a backward and forward motion on the tower sections this contributed to the jib section close to the cab section twisting as it fell and the rest as they say is history my friend.This is what happened its fact.

Judgement Day

Another Zombie awakes?

Terrontress

concerned individual wrote: »

well here is some interesting facts about this accident.1 the jib pin became loose on the jib section,2 this put extra weight on the top pin and other bottom pin on the jib.3 the wind also became a serious factor in the collapse,4 with the wind rocking the crane in a backward and forward motion on the tower sections this contributed to the jib section close to the cab section twisting as it fell and the rest as they say is history my friend.This is what happened its fact.

good investigative work there! And it only took you six years.

I was inconvenienced by a bridge strike by a now bankrupt haulier on the quays in 2002. Have you any facts that may help figure it out?

-Chris-

Zombie thread closed.

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