M8 motorway (general thread)

Geogregor

BluntGuy wrote: »

I'm beginning to worry about the P-C/C scheme. It really does not appear to be making the progress it should.

Of course Q3 2010 is still achievable, but we may be looking at 2011 if things don't pick up.

Come on guys! You are spoiled by all the projects finished before deadline in past few years in Ireland.
It is 1.5 year to Q3 2010. There shouldn't be problem. I see some of structures quite advanced, roadbed also. What's wrong? They have plenty of time to finish it. Especially that narrow median solution let them pave all the motorway at once. In other countries they have to do two separated paving operation.

CRG are building P-C/C, are they not? It's incredibly dissappointing that they're moving so slow, because their work-rate on the Waterford Bypass has been phenomenal.

They'll probably bring the paving and finishing crew from Waterford Bypass as soon as it is done. There is no point for them to hire new people if road projects in Ireland are going to be few and far between in next couple of years

Steviemak

Geogregor wrote: »

They'll probably bring the paving and finishing crew from Waterford Bypass as soon as it is done.

When is the Waterford by-pass due for completion? Q4 2010 according to NRA website

Joey Joe-Joe Jr

Steviemak wrote: »

When is the Waterford by-pass due for completion? Q4 2010 according to NRA website

It's due to be completed in 2009 according to appendix 2 at the bottom of this page.

http://www.nra.ie/News/PressReleases/htmltext,15949,en.html

Let's hope it is and that the crew are all sent up to Laois.

Amtmann

As you can see, most of the work these past weeks has been dedicated to the widening of the southbound carriageway.

BluntGuy

Wow. It's looking like they're having to re-do the entire first 500 metres or so of the bypass (bar the exit slip-road).

We all knew this would be a painful tie-in, but this painful. According to the CRDO website, this will take another 5 to 7 weeks.

And is it just me or has some of the concrete step barrier been re-aligned?

Amtmann

Berty

Let me just point out my outrage at my(and Roadbridges) hard work being destroyed.

For those of you who do not know me I lurk in the M7 thread.

Anyway I drove onto the M8 today from Mitchelstown and was horrified to see they have cut through my(Roadbridges) concrete barrier. Do they know how long it took us to put that barrier up. The section they cut out and will potentially replace will not have the same structural properties and the original because of the inability to replace(correctly) the rebars, two of, which bind the concrete into a more solid object for impacts.

Those on this thread will know the length of the bypass. The barrier is laid at around 4mph so you can imagine the annoyance of seeing that hard work go to waste.

Amtmann

Ironic! Roadbridge first built it; and now they are dismantling it. I got a good look at the median machine last weekend. Very odd looking thing, almost like a stilted tripod on caterpillar tracks. Berty, do you remember if there was any talk on the Fermoy Bypass site in 2006 about the future awkwardness of the M-F scheme tie-in?

Berty

Furet wrote: »

Ironic! Roadbridge first built it; and now they are dismantling it. I got a good look at the median machine last weekend. Very odd looking thing, almost like stilted tripod on caterpillar tracks. Berty, do you remember if there was any talk on the Fermoy Bypass site in 2006 about the future awkwardness of the M-F scheme tie-in?

A very expensive machine as well imported from the US by the contractor from Co Limerick. Nice guy but mad as a bag of cats. Its around €300,000 and sometimes they use it for laying kerbs. They laid kerbs in Rathcormac using a similar machine in a housing development.

That tie in was always going to prove difficult. Memories from the time say that the final paperwork had not being signed on the next phase so they could not bring the carraigeway beneath the bridge and up right on the tie in at the roundabout. They had to make do with the existing ramps without passing under the bridge.

mumhaabu

Can somebody please tell me I don't have to go to specsavers?? It may be nearly 4am but please don't tell me I say a Motorway sign in Irish as Gaeilge??

Why the hell is this allowed? What a disgrace to put something so important as Motorway signage in Irish when the nearest Gaeltacht is at least 100miles away?? Look at the extra cost of making that sign in Irish when they are standard across Ireland and the UK??

Irish should be left to TG4 and a few liberal teachers, what a disgrace.

Nice photos though!

bill_ashmount

mumhaabu wrote: »

Why the hell is this allowed? What a disgrace to put something so important as Motorway signage in Irish when the nearest Gaeltacht is at least 100miles away?? Look at the extra cost of making that sign in Irish when they are standard across Ireland and the UK??

Irish should be left to TG4 and a few liberal teachers, what a disgrace.

Not every Irish speaker is confined to the Gaeltacht. Also the ones who do live there occasionally leave the area to go on trips around their own country if that's ok with you?

cantalach

mumhaabu wrote: »

Why the hell is this allowed? What a disgrace to put something so important as Motorway signage in Irish when the nearest Gaeltacht is at least 100miles away?? Look at the extra cost of making that sign in Irish when they are standard across Ireland and the UK??

Irish should be left to TG4 and a few liberal teachers, what a disgrace.

So what's with your username then? If you're so anti-Irish shouldn't it be "hurrayformunster"?

Also, the Gaeltacht of An Rinn is just 40 km from where that photo was taken. Sorry...given that you're so opposed to the EU and in favour of British signage I should have said 25 miles.

Carawaystick

mumhaabu wrote: »

Can somebody please tell me I don't have to go to specsavers?? It may be nearly 4am but please don't tell me I say a Motorway sign in Irish as Gaeilge??

Why the hell is this allowed? What a disgrace to put something so important as Motorway signage in Irish when the nearest Gaeltacht is at least 100miles away?? Look at the extra cost of making that sign in Irish when they are standard across Ireland and the UK??

Irish should be left to TG4 and a few liberal teachers, what a disgrace.

Nice photos though!

Sign's aren't standard across the 26 counties let alone Ireland.
There's 5 Gaeltachtaí within 100 miles of the sign, Daingean, Cuil Aodh, Rinn, Conemara and Árainn.
You may have noticed on almost all direction signage there is an irish placename above the english placename. Some towns outside Gaeltachtaí don't even have english names, like Port Laoise or Dún Laoghaire

According to the last census 41.9% of people resident in the state stated they could speak Irish, hardly the few liberal teachers or the staff and viewers of tg4.

And lastly, the sign is on a privately operated toll road, so I'd imagine the cost of signing the road would be taken by the operator. If you don't want to see the sign, don't pay the toll.

Zube

Carawaystick wrote: »

Some towns outside Gaeltachtaí don't even have english names, like Port Laoise or Dún Laoghaire

You mean Maryborough and Kingstown?

invincibleirish

Carawaystick wrote: »

According to the last census 41.9% of people resident in the state stated they could speak Irish

And then we wonder why we have such crap pols and everything that leads out from that. Delusion begins at home folks.

mumhaabu

invincibleirish wrote: »

And then we wonder why we have such crap pols and everything that leads out from that. Delusion begins at home folks.

Will cadagum dolamac ma sh'ed a holla is not speaking Irish, I'd say the real figure would be close to 4% and there is not one person on the Island who speaks Irish only now either.

Look at the confusion for foreigners in our multi ethnic soceity.

Amtmann

This thread is about the M/N8 upgrade, not the Irish language.

Amtmann

Just wondering, has anyone else noticed the short section of rather serious subsidence of the hard shoulder on the southbound carriageway about 1km north of the southern terminus of the Cashel to Mitchelstown scheme?

I copped it today. The council have the section (which is about 15m long) coned off. Basically a 15m section right along the yellow line has sank considerably, almost as though a pipe below collapsed. I know it's been said here before, but the last 10km or so of that scheme on the Cork side shows serious shoddiness. It is bumpy and generally badly surfaced, and now, apparently, subsiding in at least one part.

I hope the F-M scheme is of a similar standard to the C-C scheme when it opens in a few months. Given the rapid construction schedule, I hope quality is not being sacrificed.

BluntGuy

Furet wrote: »

Just wondering, has anyone else noticed the short section of rather serious subsidence of the hard shoulder on the southbound carriageway about 1km north of the southern terminus of the Cashel to Mitchelstown scheme?

I copped it today. The council have the section (which is about 15m long) coned off. Basically a 15m section right along the yellow line has sank considerably, almost as though a pipe below collapsed. I know it's been said here before, but the last 10km or so of that scheme on the Cork side shows serious shoddiness. It is bumpy and generally badly surfaced, and now, apparently, subsiding in at least one part.

I hope the F-M scheme is of a similar standard to the C-C scheme when it opens in a few months. Given the rapid construction schedule, I hope quality is not being sacrificed.

Great.

So not only is the road shambolically built but it's beginning to fall apart. Fantastic.

I noticed the section coned off on Wednesday, but it fully closed today. I had presumed tho closure had something to do with the tie-in works. To hear that it's because a shoddy job was done on building the motorway is quite a surprise.

It's a disgrace. The road opened in July last year. Maintainence like this shouldn't have to be carried out so soon. It's ridiculous.

And if this section is beginning to shift about and collapse, who knows what other sections will be next. The section between J12 and J11 (particularly the bit close to J12) is of an atrocious quality for a motorway. J11 - J10 is Fermoy Bypass quality (the wide-median bit kinda reminds me of the Glanmire Bypass - a little twisty).

Fermoy-Mitchelstown - the mainline thankfully doesn't seem to have as many lumps and bumps as C-M, but whether it'll be as smooth as C-C remains to be seen.

I don't know why the M8 - a NEW motorway - is having so many problems already. The Cashel Topaz thing, missing ADS signage, J12-J11, no phones in places...

Also, I am getting so tempted to photograph people parked in the Garda Only areas...

Amtmann

You're dead right - this should not happen.

I don't think it will be possible to tell if M-F is smooth until we drive on it when it opens. I have pictures of C-M from J12-11 weeks before it opened (on this thread: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055238006, and maybe even on the early pages of this current thread) and although the camera I used was poor, it appeared smooth.

BTW, the J12 tie-in works won't affect the C-M scheme one bit, so the only reason the section was closed was because of that subsidence, I'm sure of it. I'd love to know what the explanation is. I know that the J12 overbridge and sliproads were built as part of the M-F scheme, not the Cashel to Mitchelstown. But the subsidence itself is definitely on the C-M scheme.

BluntGuy

Yes. Those earlier shots of C-M were very deceptive.

And I'm starting to get a bad feeling about the F-M scheme the more I think about it. I regretfully didn't get any shots of the mainline (but to do so would've meant stopping and getting out which I simply didn't have the time for), but I do have a vivid image in my head of what I saw.

As you head onto the Mitchelstown Bypass northbound you can see the F-M scheme in the distance (both southbound and northbound at varying points). Looking southbound, the scheme goes over a large hill (or series of hills - can't quite remember). From far away, it looks quite smooth, like a nice even (although somewhat steep) slope.

However, I have a sinking feeling that close up, it may be the lumpy, bumpy C-M rubbish all over again. As you say, until we can drive it, we really won't know (unless one of us walks on the mainline, which I don't think I'll have any time to do). Looking northbound, the same thing, quite a steep slope from J13.

Some of the curvature seems a bit iffy as well.

I'm excited to see this opening, but has build quality been sacrificed for speed (as as beginning to seem the case on the Kilcorran-Carrigane section).

Amtmann

I've actually often walked on the mainlines of M-F, C-M and C-C (before they opened obviously!). They all seemed perfectly smooth to me at the time. It would be interesting to discover, though - and perhaps Berty (if he's reading) can inform us about this - what makes a motorway slightly uneven when driving. Is it poorly-laid CBM, or is it an error in one of the three asphalt layers?

Regarding the build quality of M-F in particular, I too have noted the ascent you refer to. But I don't think that that's unusual in itself; parts of the under-construction M9 and M7 are similarly aligned. The M7 C-N scheme in particular has a high altitude and steepish climb in places, though this is really only noticable from afar. All I can say is anytime I've seen anything done on M-F, there's always been someone there supervising and measuring what's going on. Fingers crossed. Time will tell!

BluntGuy

I guess so. I can only hope.

It's funny though, how it only seems to be new stretches of motorway that have these problems. Were standards relaxed or something? I don't think as much effort is put into making stretches level. Cullahill-Cashel is a refreshing excpetion, but even the Fermoy Bypass seems a bit bumpy now.

Also, I noticed something with the Glanmire Bypass - a very N7-style offslip... will this affect the motorway redesignation (I know this probably belongs in the M-way redesignation thread, but it's relevant here as well).



Also, the semi-at-grade N8 junction near Dunkettle... any possible way they could sought that out?

Amtmann

The Glanmire exit in your photo - exit 18 - did cause me to email the NRA a while back. Their reply was typically terse: "The junction for Glanmire is not at grade".

As for Dunkettle, the M8 is proposed to stop 450m north of the interchange, so this section will still be green N road.

Amtmann

BTW, there is one whopper of a hump at the very start of the C-C scheme northbound at the Cashel Bypass end.

Here's how you experience it:

1) You're in the inside lane, northbound carriageway
2) Stay close to the yellow line
3) Drive at 120km/h
4) You'll notice it just as you come out under the J 7 overbridge right before the on-slip 120 speed limit signs.

I'll annotate it in my Youtube video of the C-C scheme (1 of 4).

Chris_533976

BluntGuy wrote: »

I guess so. I can only hope.

It's funny though, how it only seems to be new stretches of motorway that have these problems. Were standards relaxed or something? I don't think as much effort is put into making stretches level. Cullahill-Cashel is a refreshing excpetion, but even the Fermoy Bypass seems a bit bumpy now.

Also, I noticed something with the Glanmire Bypass - a very N7-style offslip... will this affect the motorway redesignation (I know this probably belongs in the M-way redesignation thread, but it's relevant here as well).



Also, the semi-at-grade N8 junction near Dunkettle... any possible way they could sought that out?

Yeah I looked at that one on Google maps, and TBH I dont really see anything major wrong with it. The only real difference between it and a 'standard' restricted junction is that it doesnt have a roundabout at the end of it. And it isnt REALLY restricted as it joins the mainline again about 500m further on.

I hope it wont affect redesignation, because it really shouldnt need too. Theres nothing wrong with it.

Lennoxschips

The bend at that exit is a bit sharp alright, but I've seen similar on many an Ausfahrt in Germany. They just put up loads of those reflective guiding sign strips with the triangly stripey things (you know what I mean). Sometimes they don't even bother with that.

Amtmann

What's the betting that here they won't bother with that? Anyway, the limit on the approach to this will probably still be 100 km/h. Though I do note from BluntGuy's picture that someone did hit that sign a clatter fairly recently.

childoforpheus

Furet wrote: »

What's the betting that here they won't bother with that? Anyway, the limit on the approach to this will probably still be 100 km/h. Though I do note from BluntGuy's picture that someone did hit that sign a clatter fairly recently.

I remember driving past one evening and there was a car on top of the mound. The driver mustn't have seen the bend at all :rolleyes:.

Bards

There's an article in this months Engineers Ireland regarding the Cullahil to Cashel Stretch of the M8

http://www.engineersireland.ie/uploads/Files/EngineeringMagazines/%7B59CD55FA8E0C4F80B9138FD39FCC5CD1%7D_CULLAHILL%20TO%20CASHEL.PDF