[Article] Dublin Port Tunnel height won't be raised

Victor

http://www.rte.ie/business/2004/0818/tunnel.html

Dublin Port Tunnel height won't be raised
August 18, 2004 19:57

Transport Minister Seamus Brennan has indicated that the height of the Dublin Port Tunnel will not be raised to accommodate so-called 'super-trucks'.

He was speaking at the Tunnel's final break-through ceremony today. The €715m tunnel is a flagship infrastructural project in the Government's National Development Plan.

It is estimated that the tunnel will take up to 9,000 trucks a day out of the city centre.

The tunnel is now completely excavated and runs 2km from Whitehall to Dublin Port. Work will immediately commence on the mechanical and electrical installations for the tunnel.

It is hoped to have it completed fitted out by late 2005.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2004/0818/tunnel.html

No change to Port Tunnel height: Brennan

18 August 2004 22:11
The Minister for Transport, Seamus Brennan, has indicated the height of the Dublin Port Tunnel will not be altered from its operational height of 4.65m.

Mr Brennan was speaking at the final breakthrough ceremony of the tunnel in the Whitehall area of the city.

Mr Brennan also said that he would love to stay in his present job after next month's cabinet reshuffle.

Victor

http://home.eircom.net/content/irelandcom/breaking/3827052?view=Eircomnet

Homes fear despite Port Tunnel breakthrough
From:ireland.com
Wednesday, 18th August, 2004

Work on the Dublin Port Tunnel has left a "trail of destruction" in north central Dublin, a residents' group claimed today.

As the Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan, today heralded the breakthrough of the tunnel at Whitehall, the Marino Development Action Group claimed that 169 homes had been damaged by the underground works and that to date only 15 had been repaired.

"It's been hell on earth for local residents since the tunnelling began," the group's secretary, Mr Fintan Cassidy said.

"The noise, vibration, disruption and damage we have had to put up with, sometimes 24 hours a day over two-month periods has been indescribable," he continued.

Mr Cassidy said residents had experienced difficulties in getting project engineers and the Dublin City Council (DCC) to address their concerns, adding that nearly half the homes affected do not qualify for repair.

Homes inside what is known as the works' "zone of influence" will be repaired under the DCC's Building Structural Guarantee and the council has also indicated it will repair affected houses outside the zone.

But Mr Cassidy said experience suggests these householders "will have a long hard fight on their hands to have their homes restored to their pre-tunnel condition".

DCC last year accepted that some homes had been damaged by the work in Marino but said some cracks had already been present in houses before the tunnelling started.

Today's breakthrough marks the end of over two years of tunnelling linking the beginning of the M1 motorway with Dublin Port 4.5 km away.

The boring machine will now be dismantled and mechanical and electrical installation will begin with a completion date of autumn 2005.

Mr Brennan said it was the largest engineering project ever undertaken in Ireland. "This will dramatically improve conditions for pedestrians in the Dublin city centre and bring relief to communities and businesses around the city," he said.

Dublin City deputy engineer, Mr Tim Brick, described the breakthrough as "a significant engineering achievement."

The €715 million tunnel is intended to reduce travel times from the Dublin Port to the M1 and the M50 orbital motorway, diverting up to 9,000 heavy goods from the city centre.

thejollyrodger

the way its going in Europe it looks like there will be a height ban (port tunnel 4.65m) on lorries for saftey reasons. Obviously this is great news for Ireland and we get the tunnel in 16 months time at the original cost!!

gobby

Yeah, I believe that the only country wanting to use the new bigger trucks is Britan. I've nothing to back this up with btw, just something I heard.

I cant wait to see the impact its gonna have in the city centre. Too bad this wasnt done when I was in college in the city.

John R

They are already banned in most of Continental Europe.

P11 Comms

Want to know who was resposible for this this whole "Supertruck" non-issue and the resultant delay, confusion, disruption, waste of tax payers money?

Look no further than Dr Sean Barrett of TCD - a man who has been doing this kind of carry on non-stop for the last 30 years. He is part of a group called the Transport Umbrella Group whose primary agenda it would appear (like Colm McCarthy) is to tell transport users what they can and cannot have (99% of the time it's rail = bad, bus = so-so and private cars YES!) - even though these experts all have a several decade long history of being incorrect on everything from the DART to the LUAS and do not regulary use any form of public transport themselves.

Welcome to Ireland...were "experts" with private city centre parking spaces and company cars deciding what public transport the rest of us should be subjected to...

www.platform11.org/rail_bashing.html

Bravo Minister Brennan for doing the right thing.

Beware of anybody claiming to be a transport consultant body...

These people can't sell locomotives, carraiges, trams, rail, sleepers or other rail transport equiptment so they want to make sure that no more money is spent on this. The snouts only fit into certain troughs. They are also terrified in the spectacular growth in rail transport in Ireland in recent years. The got it badly wrong on DART and LUAS and they are getting worried.

BeautifulLoser

There's no point in having a tunnel that can fit these super trucks when our roads and bridges simply can't. Those trucks are damn dangerous too!

The Ministry's oversight is Ireland's gain

thejollyrodger

Dr Sean Barrett of TCD must study harder.... Someone should tell him to give it a break;)

therecklessone

Welcome decision, but why the hell did it take so long?

Flukey

Things like this always do! A read through some of the threads in the forum will tell you that.

Lennoxschips

I find the idea of "enlarging" the tunnel particularily entertaining. They make it sound as easy as adding an extension to a house.

BrianD

therecklessone wrote:

Welcome decision, but why the hell did it take so long?

The Minister in question lacks the wherewithall to make a decison in case upsets some voters. It also throws a bit of money into the economy as consultants reports need to be commissioned before a decison can be made.

sliabh

BrianD wrote:

The Minister in question lacks the wherewithall to make a decison in case upsets some voters. It also throws a bit of money into the economy as consultants reports need to be commissioned before a decison can be made.

More usually the minister has to follow the proper procedures for making the decision. So request submissions, gather data and so on. It means even a simple decision will take 3 months. And before you criticise it know that the minister has to be sure any decision he makes cannot be challenged in court.

We also don't want to return to teh situation in the 80's where decisions were made on the fly to suit politicans and their mates.