M7 - Nenagh to Limerick

Sponge Bob

That makes sense, I reckon that section buckled ( only from looking at Tech2s photos and rumours I heard ) and that they will have to dig the lot out ( certainly the concrete raft on top ) and redo it with new piles.

They will possibly also have to dig out either side of it to prevent lateral bog heaves from pushing the piles across and buckling . They may as well design two separate carriageways with a wide median so that they could contraflow along one were there a future issue as they fix the other.

Floating the road on piles across the bog is now a non runner but opening as much as possible for the winter is a good idea IMO.

Tech3

If they open it partially between Birdhill and Nenagh then that could be open in weeks.

Still a pain driving from Birdhill to Annacotty on the old N7 though if the worst case scenario comes along.

Could you imagine if it became so bad that they had to reroute that bit of M7 to avoid the bog.

AlanD

tech2 wrote: »

If they open it partially between Birdhill and Nenagh then that could be open in weeks.

Still a pain driving from Birdhill to Annacotty on the old N7 though if the worst case scenario comes along.

Could you imagine if it became so bad that they had to reroute that bit of M7 to avoid the bog.

Oh I would love if they opened it to Birdhill. The spin from Limerick to there is not the worst I think.

Would a bridge over the bog do the job but would be costly?

Sponge Bob

AlanD wrote: »

Would a bridge over the bog do the job but would be costly?

A nice cable stayed bridge would be lovely , after all Waterford and Drogheda have one and Galway is getting one so why should Limerick miss out

Enbee

I wonder if they could learn anything from this project:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_10_in_Louisiana

The section through the Atchafalaya Swamp (complete with bridge over one of the deepest rivers in the world) is quite amazing and was a hell of an engineering challenge. I've no idea what the terrain was like though but the freeway is just one long bridge and doesn't rest on a layer of piles.

Aidan1

bogland believed locally to be "bottomless" and highly dangerous.

I'd love to see the geophysics the locals were working from. If it was "believed locally" to be haunted by fairies, would the Nenagh Guardian be be blaming them for damage to equipment?

Seriously, local newspaper articles like this only serve to reinforce the 'local triumph over know it all outsiders' sterotype that so many in rural Ireland cling to as evidence of their ongoing relevance.

Clearly there were issues with the initial survey work, and perhaps the route selection. But there is clearly no such thing as a 'bottomless' bog - if they were piling that deep, then they were piling into something. The approach the contracters and NRA are taking seems to be of the 'more gun' school - generally correct in the first instance. Here's hoping it works. The alternative is expensive ...

Amtmann

Totally agree. The article contains a good deal of folklore rather than fact; still, it is interesting. And of course there's no such thing as a bottomless bog. A large team of high-capacity excavators would soon demonstrate that.

Tech3

I found some photos of the M7/N7 from Kildare to Limerick on the polish forum of skyscrapercity. Hard to make out what their saying but I see Mountrath being quoted as a bad bottleneck! There is also parts of Ireland thrown in for good measure.

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=42852616&postcount=308

Sponge Bob

Furet wrote: »

And of course there's no such thing as a bottomless bog.

If there is it would have to be in Limerick where they would not think of looking for it

Tech2 Took this picture below of the bog section recently which explains everything; the concrete 'deck' laid across the piles appears to have buckled and heaved ...probably because someone from Moyross stashed a load of cocaine in the bog and the fairies got their hands on it !

Chris_533976

Sponge Bob wrote: »

A nice cable stayed bridge would be lovely , after all Waterford and Drogheda have one and Galway is getting one so why should Limerick miss out

L1011

Chris_533976 wrote: »

GCOB Corrib bridge might be cable stayed?

Sponge Bob

MYOB wrote: »

GCOB Corrib bridge might be cable stayed?

It will be but it will be a low profile cable stayed bridge ....called an EXTRADOSED bridge design , not the funky Suir and Boyne varieties .

From the EIS

http://www.galwaycity.ie/AllServices/RoadsandTraffic/Publications/FileEnglish,3244,en.pdf page 34 .

A bridge with a main span of 150m is the option chosen to cross the River Corrib.

The total length spanned is 465m with two spans either side of the main span. The bridge superstructure will be a single continuous cellular box girder with extradosed post tensioning to the main and side spans with pylons on the bridge centreline. The substructure comprises of abutments and piers. The foundations will be piled with the exception of the pier on the east river bank where a ground bearing foundation on bedrock is proposed.

I was told by an engineer that it may look awfully like this as the structure has very thin piers and a continously curving deck ...not a straight one , piccie from wiki :cool:

Chris_533976

Aha ok.

New Ross will be 3 tower Extrados, I was always under the impression (and had read somewhere) that Galway would be a 'pure' box girder.

nordydan

tech2 wrote: »

I found some photos of the M7/N7 from Kildare to Limerick on the polish forum of skyscrapercity. Hard to make out what their saying but I see Mountrath being quoted as a bad bottleneck! There is also parts of Ireland thrown in for good measure.

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=42852616&postcount=308

Try google translate, he did a trip from dublin to cliffs of moher and another to the giants causeway. Some of the stuff is very funny (may need to browse a bit - i think single quote is translated)!

Roryhy

nordydan wrote: »

Try google translate, he did a trip from dublin to cliffs of moher and another to the giants causeway. Some of the stuff is very funny (may need to browse a bit - i think single quote is translated)!

HAHA- Borris-in-Ossory, probably named after a Russian! Classic!

Geogregor

nordydan wrote: »

Try google translate, he did a trip from dublin to cliffs of moher and another to the giants causeway. Some of the stuff is very funny (may need to browse a bit - i think single quote is translated)!

He is writing all the basic stuff for those few Poles who are not in Ireland..... Just kidding

Most of the Polish forumers on the Skyscraper city are more familiar with continental roads (especially "legendary" German roads) so he wrote about different standards of your national roads system, how old N roads are declassified to local roads after opening of the motorways, a bit of history of different stretches of M7, few words about bottlenecks, narrow roads, hedges, horse racing, concrete central barier (that it is now standard on all new Irish motorways), he also writes about buiildig of the M7

I've seen his few more posts about Irish roads.

Wild Bill

Great trip-journal, excellent photos.

nordydan

Geogregor wrote: »

He is writing all the basic stuff for those few Poles who are not in Ireland..... Just kidding

Most of the Polish forumers on the Skyscraper city are more familiar with continental roads (especially "legendary" German roads) so he wrote about different standards of your national roads system, how old N roads are declassified to local roads after opening of the motorways, a bit of history of different stretches of M7, few words about bottlenecks, narrow roads, hedges, horse racing, concrete central barier (that it is now standard on all new Irish motorways), he also writes about buiildig of the M7

I've seen his few more posts about Irish roads.

The comments about binge drinking and building Terminal 2 so that the Irish could all emigrate more quickly are very good!

Tragedy

Did Dublin > Kerry, Kerry > Dublin in the last 24 hours.

All I can say is: I hate Mountrath.

Wild Bill

nordydan wrote: »

The comments about binge drinking and building Terminal 2 so that the Irish could all emigrate more quickly are very good!

From Poland? I guess he was being ironic :cool:

Geogregor

Wild Bill wrote: »

From Poland? I guess he was being ironic :cool:

Yes he is joking that while Irish are emigrating, Poles, Brazilians, Nigerians or Somalians are coming.
Says something like: "Ireland was always known from quick turnover of the population"
I don't know if you use Google translation guys but his comments are rather funny and not offensive. He is joking about Poles as well.

Wild Bill

:cool: Population turnover isn't far from the truth I recall a few years ago heading across to Holyhead just before Christmas and I was one of a handful of Irish in a sea of Poles and other Europeans; while we were waiting the ship disgorged an entire army of returning Irish home for the holidays.

Did you say this chap did journals of other Irish road trips? Any links?

Amtmann

Ahem - back on topic please folks!

Amtmann

The vast majority of this thread (formerly the M7 general thread) is about Nenagh to Limerick, so I've changed the thread title to reflect that. I'm going through the whole thing now and moving posts about the SRR Phase II to this thread and general M7 posts to here . I will also move C-N and M7/M8 posts to the proper threads in due course.

In the meantime, Nenagh to Limerick only is to be discussed here, please.

MYSTICA1

Hi, I asked someone who drove Limerick - Dublin over the weekend if the Nenagh bypass was fully open yet .. He said it was but I'm not convinced he had a clue what I was asking !! :rolleyes: Can anyone verify either way ? I was down that way recently & it didn't look like it was about to be opened that quickly!

roosterman71

MYSTICA1 wrote: »

Hi, I asked someone who drove Limerick - Dublin over the weekend if the Nenagh bypass was fully open yet .. He said it was but I'm not convinced he had a clue what I was asking !! :rolleyes: Can anyone verify either way ? I was down that way recently & it didn't look like it was about to be opened that quickly!

No its not open. I drove to Limerick Saturday and its still under construction. Seems to be a decent bit of work to do on either end to tie in with the new Limerick motorway, and the current N7 at the Moneygall end.

blackwarrior

After that article in the Nenagh Guardian, I'd be very pessimistic on the Nenagh-Limerick motorway opening anytime in the next 6 months! Which is bad for me because I use it every day for work.

Regarding the Nenagh bypass section, it looks almost ready after the railway underbridge west of Nenagh to the end of the project length, i.e. where it ties in with Nenagh-Castletown.

Frankly I am sick of looking at this road every day. It teases me by crossing the old N7 three times between Finnegans' pub at Limerick and the Nenagh bypass!

Sierra Oscar

Apparently construction in one tiny part of this road near the Gooig bog is going a bit slow, with difficulties with the construction of foundations at one bog area.

blackwarrior

Sierra Oscar wrote: »

Apparently construction in one tiny part of this road near the Gooig bog is going a bit slow, with difficulties with the construction of foundations at one bog area.

One tiny part is enough to mess it up. Dublin-Galway motorway is going to be open in the spring; Dublin-Cork probably in the atumn.

The last new piece of the Dublin-Limerick to open was back in 2004 (Monasterevin bypass!).

This sinking road is going to become a national story soon enough I think.

The Word Is Bor

blackwarrior wrote: »

One tiny part is enough to mess it up. Dublin-Galway motorway is going to be open in the spring; Dublin-Cork probably in the atumn.

The last new piece of the Dublin-Limerick to open was back in 2004 (Monasterevin bypass!).

This sinking road is going to become a national story soon enough I think.

It will be a while yet before Dublin-Limerick is completed.

The N7 Nenagh-Limerick has already made national headlines. Expect a lot more in the next few years or so with arbitration/court cases.