N25 Suir Bridge, Waterford

fricatus

I saw a picture of what the new N25 bridge will look like, on Martin Cullen's election pamphlet, wouldn't you know!

Looks huge - is it true that it will be the biggest bridge in the country when built? How tall/long will it be?

Anyone got any pictures, either of what it will look like, or of the current construction site?

mike65

It'll certainly be the highest road bridge, I'd say the "landing zone" on the east side of the Suir at the crossing point is 30-35 metres above sea level and the actual road surface will be higher again. It'll be nearly 500 metres long.

The best place to get pics is to park on the lay-by just before you reach Granny Castle and walk back towards the N24/N9 junction there is a spot where you can see the construction on the
west side.







Mike.

road_high

How is this progressing as a matter of interest? There must be a lot done as it's in construction over a year now.
Has the bridge part started yet?

Bards

mfitzy wrote:

How is this progressing as a matter of interest? There must be a lot done as it's in construction over a year now.
Has the bridge part started yet?

Contract was signed Last April, but work didn't commence until June 2006 so not quiet a year yet. Work has started on the South side of the River on the Foundations for the Bridge but no physical Bridge Work can be seen yet.

The Bridge is being constructed off-site concurrently as work on the bypass is progressing.

fricatus

Bards wrote:

The Bridge is being constructed off-site concurrently as work on the bypass is progressing.

Really? Off-site as in nearby or being assembled in a factory far, far away?

Surely they can only build little sections for later assembly. From the picture above, the thing is huge and couldn't possibly be transported in anything other than either raw materials or little bits.

Any links to the construction process of this or similar bridges?

By the way, thanks Mike for the pictures.

fricatus

Here's a picture of the Boyne Bridge near Drogheda during construction:

http://en.structurae.de/photos/index.cfm?JS=51559

I see what you mean about being able to be assembled off-site now... those sections of the big pylon are probably lashed together with cables up through the middle or something.

Victor

Barges / ships can be brought right up the the bridge location.

Chris_533976

Isnt the bridge on the proposed New Ross DC bypass gonna be bigger???

mike65

Yes, but thats a sheet of paper right now and won't be built for 10 years.

Mike.

Jambo

As for the new ross bypass bridge plans are already drawn up and the drilling and core samples for the geological survey have been completed for a few weeks now .

From the plans I breifly seen it will be fairly impressive vith a large gradient coming form the pink rock ( kk side ) dropping down to the wexford side very close to JFK's ancestral home !!

mike65

Goody, I was going into NR on Tuesday at 9 am and it took 20 mins to cross the bridge thanks to a JCB blocking one lane.

Mike.

fricatus

Both bridges will be so cool when they're completed - and both in the south-east! Rock on!

By the way, I heard that it will be a motorway, as in like, blue signs. Is this true?

Our man in Havana

I reckon there will be huge problems as the new N9 won't be close to being ready by the time the new bridge is opened

Bards

Bond-007 wrote:

I reckon there will be huge problems as the new N9 won't be close to being ready by the time the new bridge is opened

I reckon it will be the other way around. I was speaking to someone from ASCON who said they would have the section of motorway between Waterford and Knocktopher finished before the bridge is.

mike65

The schedule is Waterford Knocktopher 2007-2009, N25 bypass 2006-2110

Mike.

fricatus

mike65 wrote:

The schedule is Waterford Knocktopher 2007-2009, N25 bypass 2006-2110

So two years for Waterford-Knocktopher and 104 years to build the bridge?

Is this your idea of an April Fool's?

fricatus

Bards wrote:

I reckon it will be the other way around. I was speaking to someone from ASCON who said they would have the section of motorway between Waterford and Knocktopher finished before the bridge is.

As the N25 contract includes the upgrade of the last stretch of the N9 into Waterford, I suppose all that will matter is that they co-ordinate this bit of the N25 works with the Waterford-Knocktopher stretch.

mike65

fricatus wrote:

So two years for Waterford-Knocktopher and 104 years to build the bridge?

Is this your idea of an April Fool's?

I knew that year looked worng! On the other hand....!

Mike.

Our man in Havana

How much will it cost each time to cross this magnificent piece of engineering?

Lennoxschips

the property developers are going to have a field day

fricatus

Lennoxschips wrote:

the property developers are going to have a field day

Why? Not being smart, but what would cause the new N25 around Waterford to be any more or less a field day for developers than any other bypass?

Either way, the N9 realignment in Newrath (which is part of the same project) is thundering ahead. They've raised a big bank of earth (don't know the technical term) right up to level with the existing road just to the north of the crappy little "roundabout" at the N9/N24 junction.

JupiterKid

It will be great to have the Suir bridge and Waterford bypass open - for far too long, the South East has been a pretty neglected region of Ireland in terms of infrastructure and services. All the attention in the past 30 years was on improving the West but in the meantime the South East was forgotten - and this showed up in recent wealth data showing the South East as one of the most disadvantaged parts of Ireland.

Hopefully this new road and the forthcoming New Ross bypass will go towards making the South East more competitive and accessible.

And roads are being built so quickly now - the first stretch of the Gorey bypass will open in July 2007 and yet construction only started in October 2005. That's impressive. Back in the 70s, it took 7 years - yes 7 years - just to complete the Stillorgan dual carriageway. And it took 5 years to build the 8km Naas bypass - the first motorway in the country. :rolleyes:

road_high

JupiterKid wrote:

It will be great to have the Suir bridge and Waterford bypass open - for far too long, the South East has been a pretty neglected region of Ireland in terms of infrastructure and services. All the attention in the past 30 years was on improving the West but in the meantime the South East was forgotten - and this showed up in recent wealth data showing the South East as one of the most disadvantaged parts of Ireland.

Hopefully this new road and the forthcoming New Ross bypass will go towards making the South East more competitive and accessible.

And roads are being built so quickly now - the first stretch of the Gorey bypass will open in July 2007 and yet construction only started in October 2005. That's impressive. Back in the 70s, it took 7 years - yes 7 years - just to complete the Stillorgan dual carriageway. And it took 5 years to build the 8km Naas bypass - the first motorway in the country. :rolleyes:

So rue re the neglect of the s east and infrastructure. Look at the lack of investment in the N9 until recently.
The New Ross bypass is at/near CPO stage is it? It's chroniclly needed. At least it'll be a dual carriageway when built.
Also Carlow bypass is motoring along. I reckon this time next year we will be very close opening of the first stretch of the long-awaited Dublin-Waterford road.

Victor

mfitzy wrote:

So rue re the neglect of the s east and infrastructure. Look at the lack of investment in the N9 until recently.

But the South Ring Road was prioritised?

The New Ross bypass is at/near CPO stage is it? It's chroniclly needed. At least it'll be a dual carriageway when built.
Also Carlow bypass is motoring along. I reckon this time next year we will be very close opening of the first stretch of the long-awaited Dublin-Waterford road.

Nass-Kilcullen? Moone-Timolin? Leighlinbridge?

King Kelly

Just wondering what progress is being made on the new Waterford bridge. The computer image looks great. Can it be seen from the public road?

fricatus

King Kelly wrote: »

Just wondering what progress is being made on the new Waterford bridge. The computer image looks great. Can it be seen from the public road?

I don't think so just yet, although the part of the river that it will cross could always be seen from near the Ferry Bar, which is on the left hand side of the N24, just after the point that that road splits off the N9 leaving Waterford. You could definitely see the big pylon area sticking out into the river a few weeks ago when I drove by there.

However, there are loads of pictures of the bridge and bypass works in the following thread:

http://www.upthedeise.com/waterfordmessageboard/viewtopic.php?t=101

Most of the pictures are on pages 7, 11, 13 and 18, although the thread itself is an incredible visual record of the Waterford area in 2007. Look at the page count! This guy is a legend!

mike65

The guys a bandwidth bandit!

All the bits are being worked on, the western section where it meets the N25 at Kilmeaden is busy with the Portlaw road being realigned soon, the section which crosses the Old Kilmeaden Road at the Manor Hotel is also being carved out while the section behind Slieverue is a hive of activity.

Mike.

fricatus

Some more pictures are to be found in the newsletters, at the bottom of this page:

http://www.nra.ie/PublicPrivatePartnership/ContractorsNewsletters/

King Kelly

Thanks guys. What a great pictorial record of Waterford that is. I guess insomnia has it's positive side.....

King Kelly

Can't believe he's missed out on Waterford most famous hotel, that home from home for the weary traveller..... The Maryland

E92

Isn't the Waterford city bypass going to be a Motorway?

Or was that another "error" they made before the election?

Tal Hawkins

The waterford by-pass was the first PPP project to be signed in Ireland, then with all the red tape, the dundalk, kinegad and countless others projects got built using PPP, with the red tape with waterford holding it up, not to mention that viking site, so waterford hasnt really been over-looked in the developement.

Yeah think its goin to be classed a "high class duel carriage way" which is a motorway with 100k speed limit. be like this until they connect the by-pass to the N9 sections and have sizable road lenghts to have motorway

Stark

No plans at the moment to make it a motorway, unless they decide to upgrade it when they're upgrading other HQDCs.

Ham'nd'egger

Anybody who lives or gets down that part of the world, the building of any large bridge is something worth keeping tabs on, let alone any cabled bridge. I'd love to see the pics sometime soon.

Chris_533976

I heard rumours it would be M???

mike65

The minister is due to make HQDC a motorway so it should be a 130 kp/h route.

Mike.

corktina

120 u mean ?:)

mike65

Just trying to steal a few more!

Mike.

E92

I wish they did make the Motorway speed limit 130, especially if there are going to be speed cameras and the like around the place next year, and this comes to fruition, then 140 minimum should be demanded.

If they are going to actually enforce limits, then the limits should be higher.

dmeehan

E92 wrote: »

If they are going to actually enforce limits, then the limits should be higher.

Why?

Stark

There's a good paper here on the ratiolane for seeking an increase in the UK motorway speed limit to 80mph (130kph): http://www.abd.org.uk/motorwayspeedlimit.htm

E92

dmeehan wrote: »

Why?

because if Irish people actually drove at the speed limit, we would all realise that most of them are ridiculously low. in particular the speed limit on HQDCs is disgracefully low. and the 60 km/h limit feels no faster than 50 km/h. Why not 70 km/h?

The only speed limits that are appropriate are those on R roads(and soime of them are capable of well more than only 80), and those twisty N roads(actually some are too high, the ones with no hard shoulders and full of twists n turns should be 90 or even 80)

fricatus

I saw three or four extra long lorries heading towards Waterford along the N9 at 6 this morning, each carrying massive precast reinforced concrete beams - Must have been 15-20 metres long each, an impressive sight!

Another couple of mornings earlier, there was a convoy of lorries that seemed to be carrying sections of a big yellow crane - much bigger in cross-section than any construction crane you'd see on a normal building site.

I imagine this all has to do with the construction of the bridge. If this is anything to go by, it's going to be one hell of a structure!

!_Brian_!

has anyone got any new info on this? lenght/height etc? a quick search around google turned up fruitless

Bards

!_Brian_! wrote: »

has anyone got any new info on this? lenght/height etc? a quick search around google turned up fruitless

http://www.waterfordcity.ie/n25bypass/facts.html

Victor

Moved to Infrastructure.