M7 - Castletown to Nenagh

Deedsie

summer11 wrote: »

I stopped as I was passing this project and a worker said that the "Final Wearing Course is being applied and work is progressing on m-way signage."

He felt that road will open early November......

I really hope that worker is right in his prediction. Where abouts did you stop and ask him? Nenagh, Moneygall, roscrea or Borris in ossory?

summer11

The Nenagh side, Deedsie.

I mentioned that it would be great for the October Weekend and I got the impression that weekend would be a bit early (Week or two...)

But here's hoping !

I had seen earlier posts that this scheme had very much slowed down and I believe that was the case - but I think the work has cranked up a good bit and the final push is on!

summer11

Any chance of photos of scheme this weekend please?

Deedsie

summer11 wrote: »

Any chance of photos of scheme this weekend please?

Might depress people a bit

Deedsie

mysterious wrote: »

Nenagh Castletown M7 Scheme is underway officially.

Contractors are Somague Bowen.
Never heard of them.

This was posted on the 29/4/2008 it is now the 27/9/2010

This scheme is 36km in length, with 3.5 junctions. Junction 21 was mostly built as part of the portlaoise to cullahill scheme. So junction 22,23 & 24 and 36 km of motorway has now taken almost 2 and a half years. Might not open till the new year as not a lick of lining paint is down.

So 914 days give or take? 0.039 kilometres of road a day. 2.5 years and we still don't have an official opening date just vague predictions of November, December or January. To my knowledge there have been no disastrous bog or financing issues to cause delays. Is this not sinfully slow? Does anyone have the stats on the cost of this project? The numbers working on it?

It's not all the banks fault our country is fupped. If this is the value we can expect for tax payees money all capital investment projects should be postponed untill the NRA grow some teeth and question and provide answers to the public why these roads take so long to build. I know it's nearly done, and that's great. But that's not the point. It took almost three years for the construction phase alone. That is a disgrace. Just over 12 km a year. A kilometre a month it has taken? A kilometre a month?

Value for money, my hole. Were they not laying a over a kilometre a week in the UK in the sixties for there motorway rollout? 30 odd years ago? Who negotiated this tender?

Dirigent

Deedsie wrote: »

This was posted on the 29/4/2008 it is now the 27/9/2010

This scheme is 36km in length, with 3.5 junctions. Junction 21 was mostly built as part of the portlaoise to cullahill scheme. So junction 22,23 & 24 and 36 km of motorway has now taken almost 2 and a half years. Might not open till the new year as not a lick of lining paint is down.

So 914 days give or take? 0.039 kilometres of road a day. 2.5 years and we still don't have an official opening date just vague predictions of November, December or January. To my knowledge there have been no disastrous bog or financing issues to cause delays. Is this not sinfully slow? Does anyone have the stats on the cost of this project? The numbers working on it?

It's not all the banks fault our country is fupped. If this is the value we can expect for tax payees money all capital investment projects should be postponed untill the NRA grow some teeth and question and provide answers to the public why these roads take so long to build. I know it's nearly done, and that's great. But that's not the point. It took almost three years for the construction phase alone. That is a disgrace. Just over 12 km a year. A kilometre a month it has taken? A kilometre a month?

Value for money, my hole. Were they not laying a over a kilometre a week in the UK in the sixties for there motorway rollout? 30 odd years ago? Who negotiated this tender?

And when some Minister comes to cut the ribbon, they'll spin that it's "almost ahead of schedule and nearly under budget".

L1011

No such thing as 'under' or 'over' budget on a fixed price contract.

andykells

summer11 wrote: »

The Nenagh side, Deedsie.

I mentioned that it would be great for the October Weekend and I got the impression that weekend would be a bit early (Week or two...)

But here's hoping !

I had seen earlier posts that this scheme had very much slowed down and I believe that was the case - but I think the work has cranked up a good bit and the final push is on!

Start of the third week in November is the date the contractor is now working to. With the "bottomless bog" section as the locals call it opening today we will soon have motorway to dublin.

lukejr

With the Birdhill to Limerick section opening today, lets hope we can focus on this section and have more regular updates by people living in the Roscrea area.

This thread hasn't been the most popular.

Deedsie

lukejr wrote: »

With the Birdhill to Limerick section opening today, lets hope we can focus on this section and have more regular updates by people living in the Roscrea area.

This thread hasn't been the most popular.

I try my best to keep this thread alive. It's hard though, progress is so slow compared to other schemes. So they are saying it's gonna take eight weeks from today? Not 1 of the junctions finished, no lining done? Cats eyes laid? Signage not complete? Lighting not complete.

If they finish it in eight weeks that would be uncharacteristically quick work for this contractor and employees?

lukejr

What other roads have Somague Bowen built in Ireland?

It is slow, are they just happy to meet the Q4 deadline:
http://www.nra.ie/RoadSchemeActivity/LaoisCountyCouncil/N7CastletowntoNenagh/SchemeName,16480,en.html

Deedsie

lukejr wrote: »

What other roads have Somague Bowen built in Ireland?

It is slow, are they just happy to meet the Q4 deadline:
http://www.nra.ie/RoadSchemeActivity/LaoisCountyCouncil/N7CastletowntoNenagh/SchemeName,16480,en.html

How did they get away with that as a deadline in the first place? Have we no roads regulator/ombudsman? Surely during the tender stages they never expected it to take this long?

How much is it coating? Were they just given a blank cheque on this?

d1980

Deedsie wrote: »

How did they get away with that as a deadline in the first place? Have we no roads regulator/ombudsman? Surely during the tender stages they never expected it to take this long?

How much is it coating? Were they just given a blank cheque on this?

Surely a price was agreed and its in the road builders interest to get this done as soon as possible?

I think i know the answer to this one but there is no chance of a partial opening any time soon?

Tech3

Gort-Crusheen is now mostly covered in wearing course and lining is advanced on the northbound carriageway........ and thats due for November so I doubt this one will make it for this year as per my original prediction. However I need to see some photos of late to judge whether it will make it this side of Christmas.

Deedsie

d1980 wrote: »

Surely a price was agreed and its in the road builders interest to get this done as soon as possible?

I think i know the answer to this one but there is no chance of a partial opening any time soon?

I would assume there is no chance of a partial opening. Third week in December is my guess for an opening. Or the week the Dáil goes on it's Christmas break. Presuming we get through An Buiséad on the 7th of December!

summer11

tech2 wrote: »

Gort-Crusheen is now mostly covered in wearing course and lining is advanced on the northbound carriageway........ and thats due for November so I doubt this one will make it for this year as per my original prediction. However I need to see some photos of late to judge whether it will make it this side of Christmas.

This scheme will open in November - The Latest opening - start of week 3 as posted by someone earlier.

L1011

Deedsie wrote: »

I would assume there is no chance of a partial opening. Third week in December is my guess for an opening. Or the week the Dáil goes on it's Christmas break. Presuming we get through An Buiséad on the 7th of December!

The intermediate junction isn't high enough capacity to open it part-way from either end to there.

Deedsie

summer11 wrote: »

This scheme will open in November - The Latest opening - start of week 3 as posted by someone earlier.

Is that just positive mental thinking? I'd say untill we hear an official opening date, nothing can be taken as definite. Third week in November is only seven weeks away. The junctions are still in construction.

It would be a monumental effort to meet that date. Here's hoping they prove me wrong

andykells

Thats the date thats being worked to anyway. Seems early to me but i only see it as i passing every week from dublin to limerick

Amtmann

Standing on N62 overbridge, looking to Limerick. Note LILO:


Looking towards Dublin from the same position:


Close-up of paver:


Entrance/Exit to/from the eastbound carriageway:


Rennicks have the signage contract:


On the LILO slip road. A car wishing to drive from Roscrea to Dublin would drive on the lane I am standing on:


Same position, just a little closer to the M7 mainline:


The junction:


The N62 overbridge, looking towards Dublin:


View of the Off-ramp/on-ramp as one heads from Limerick to Dublin:


The LILO on the west-bound carriageway is less advanced:


A worker I met told me the target is late November. He said he felt this was "realistic".

-Corkie-

Fairplay for the pics. Those LILO junctions are a disaster of a thing. There will be accidents there.

Amtmann

-Corkie- wrote: »

Fairplay for the pics. Those LILO junctions are a disaster of a thing. There will be accidents there.

The Germans manage fine with them, but my beef is that the M7 in its entirety will have a mixture of dumb-bell interchanges and LILOs, and that this could catch people out.

-Corkie-

Furet wrote: »

The Germans manage fine with them, but my beef is that the M7 in its entirety will have a mixture of dumb-bell interchanges and LILOs, and that this could catch people out.

Ahem. German drivers and Irish drivers. Chalk and cheese dosent even come near to a comparison. The only other place I have seen one of these is on the N17 on the Claremorris by-pass. I am particulary concerned Hgv`s will hit these junctions at speed from the motorway and wont make the sharp bend. Cars also no super car even would hold the road on those bends coming of the motorway. I guess time will tell.

Dubluc

-Corkie- wrote: »

Ahem. German drivers and Irish drivers. Chalk and cheese dosent even come near to a comparison. The only other place I have seen one of these is on the N17 on the Claremorris by-pass. I am particulary concerned Hgv`s will hit these junctions at speed from the motorway and wont make the sharp bend. Cars also no super car even would hold the road on those bends coming of the motorway. I guess time will tell.

First forgive me but what does LILO stand for? The anoracks here seem to assume everyone knows what they are talking about. I can see from the photos what is meant though.

If the speed limits for the on/off ramps are posted clearly and in good time nobody should have any problems with entering and leaving. Only a complete eejit would leave a motorway and expect to continue up the off ramp at the same speed.

On the other hand in my opinion the most danger will come from eejits trying to join the m/way and not accelerating to the speed of traffic on the motorway or the 120 limit quickly enough and of course eejits on the motorway exceeding the speed limit and expecting that people joining will be able to cope with their excess.

I recently got caught behind a car on a motorway joining lane going at about 50km/h and expected to join at this speed. I wasn't worried about this guy but it forced me to join fast moving traffic from almost a dead stop coming behind once we reached the mainline. Crazy stuff.

Tip for fast acceleration when joining if it is necessary is lower the gear and depress accelerator. This increases acceleration sharply. It seems not many know this. Obviously you have to watch for traffic around also and adjust speed accordingly. But please be close to the speed of traffic on the motorway before joining otherwise I dread to think.

Safe driving. Looking forward to this piece opening. I'll be using J22 a lot.

Amtmann

Dubluc wrote: »

First forgive me but what does LILO stand for? The anoracks here seem to assume everyone knows what they are talking about.

Ahem...

Dubluc

Furet wrote: »

Ahem...

That's an article for Real anoraks!

TheGodBen

Dubluc wrote: »

On the other hand in my opinion the most danger will come from eejits trying to join the m/way and not accelerating to the speed of traffic on the motorway or the 120 limit quickly enough and of course eejits on the motorway exceeding the speed limit and expecting that people joining will be able to cope with their excess.

The problem with LILOs is that it can be impossible to reach the speed of traffic on the motorway before joining because of the sharp left-turn. Junction 13 on the M18 is an example of this (Street View image is from before it was reclassified as motorway), the merge lane after the turn is so short that you might only reach 70-80kph before being forced onto the main carriageway.

Dubluc

TheGodBen wrote: »

The problem with LILOs is that it can be impossible to reach the speed of traffic on the motorway before joining because of the sharp left-turn. Junction 13 on the M18 is an example of this (Street View image is from before it was reclassified as motorway), the merge lane after the turn is so short that you might only reach 70-80kph before being forced onto the main carriageway.

Not personally familiar with the junction you talk of but generally I find if you have nothing in front driving inappropriately slowly and drop a gear and floor it you usually will have the car going fast enough to safely join at an appropriate speed.

Obviously there is no accounting for every circumstance. However the road engineers would be very slack if they deliberately designed a road where it was impossible for a competent driver to get to a safe speed to join the motorway.

Don't get me started on the incompetent drivers!

Sponge Bob

This was discussed before apropos Gort Crusheen. The difference between Ennis and more modern schemes is that entry by LILO from below ( ie constantly climbing a la the 2 or 3 northern Ennis bypass LILOs ) is gone and the entry from LILO is now on a constant descent to the end of the merge. Makes it easier to get up to speed. I would close the current Ennis Bypass era Barefield LILO altogether save as an exit maybe. Traffic should use the much safer onramps north of Barefield instead.

Also a good idea to have LILO exits on an ascent where gravity can assist the slowdown from motorway speed.

All the Ennis merge lanes are too short bar the large N85 merge which is long and on a descent.

Deedsie

Furet, you mentioned above that rennicks got the signage contract? Are these a completely separate company to Somague Bowen? That's good news, bowen workers can focus on completing the junctions, lining the roads, and laying the cats eyes etc

In the opinion of posters here, if the road and junctions had there final layer down, median complete etc by the start of November. Would it be possible to finish off laying the remaining cats eyes and line 36 km of motorway by the 21st of November?