M7 - Nenagh to Limerick

Tech3

Spacetweek I deleted your previous post on this thread. Please play the ball and not the man. Any more of the same abusive behavior will result in a infraction.

Tech3

Did anyone see the road artwork on the Nenagh bypass yet? Some sort of statue sitting down? It's just off the southbound carriageway.

Berty

tech2 wrote: »

Did anyone see the road artwork on the Nenagh bypass yet? Some sort of statue sitting down? It's just off the southbound carriageway.

Any chance it looks like a guy sitting down with my head resting against his hand?

Tech3

Berty wrote: »

Any chance it looks like a guy sitting down with my head resting against his hand?

I cant remember it in great detail just some sort of statue along that stretch.

Berty

tech2 wrote: »

I cant remember it in great detail just some sort of statue, it was seen easily enough when passing that stretch along the motorway.

Its just that the bypass had two statues before and one was a bull and one was a guy sitting down.

Riskymove

Berty wrote: »

Its just that the bypass had two statues before and one was a bull and one was a guy sitting down.

they are still there

Rovi

I'm pretty sure those two statues are meant to be viewed as one piece; the bull is straining to move forward and the man is pulling to hold it back.
They're 'connected' by an imaginary rope.

At least, that's always been my interpretation of it.

fresca

Rovi wrote: »

I'm pretty sure those two statues are meant to be viewed as one piece; the bull is straining to move forward and the man is pulling to hold it back.
They're 'connected' by an imaginary rope.

At least, that's always been my interpretation of it.

Same as that - I've always seen it as one piece.
There is a thread here http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=232206 on Road Art.

I also found this site, which has some pics:
http://www.roadart.ie/

Sponge Bob

From.

http://www.tribune.ie/business/news/article/2009/dec/20/mcnamara-firm-must-pay-cost-of-bog-road-remedial-w/

No mention of the stargate or of anything 'mysterious'. Confirmation of the problems that were apparent from Tech2's photos of the "bog of doom" some months back where the buckling seemed pretty obvious.

Bóthar Hibernian, the consortium that includes McNamara, Coffey Construction and is led by Portuguese contractor Mota Engil, has had to reinforce a section of the M7 Limerick-Nenagh road running through wet bog area using steel-reinforced concrete piles after the National Roads Authority (NRA) raised fears that the structure would be unstable.

Constructing the road through bogland which locals considered "bottomless" and very dangerous has proven a significant challenge for the consortium. The associated problems have caused a lengthy delay in its completion.


The road was due to open in May 2009 but that date was put back six months to December because of difficulties with the bog site. However, the road will not now be completed until the first quarter of next year.


The cost of the delay and extra work required is thought to run into millions of euros and will be met by the consortium.


A spokesman for the NRA said it was happy with the measures taken to rectify the problem and was confident that the structure would be sufficiently stable. He confirmed that the additional costs incurred would have to be borne by the consortium, saying that the problem with the bog was known when contracts were awarded.


Mota Engil did not respond to calls seeking comment last week.

101sean

Another article from the N2L in January's Earthmovers magazine that features Coffey's machinary. It concentrates on the rock breaking though, no mention of the Bog of Doom which was in their section of the site. Suspect the article was written several months ago as the site has featured numerous times in the last two years. The funniest was a whole article about RAC Eire and how they were dealing with the conditions back in about July 2008, it raised a few smiles on site!

Wild Bill

How wide is the Bog of Doom? Would it have been cheaper to bridge it? Did they ever find the bottom? :eek:

Berty

Wild Bill wrote: »

How wide is the Bog of Doom? Would it have been cheaper to bridge it? Did they ever find the bottom? :eek:

It would not be possible to traverse the bog with a bridge because it would need structural supports to hold it up which like the current structure are pile driven into the ground.

The current idea, however disagreed with, is the best idea for the bog.

How wide is it? Many many many KM's in all directions. The bog road itself from the Newport Road to the N7 is around 4kms alone but I know the bog runs off all little further than that.

Tech3

Is it possible that we could end up seeing a 1km depressed section of the M7 in a few years time?

Berty

tech2 wrote: »

Is it possible that we could end up seeing a 1km depressed section of the M7 in a few years time?

Well this picture is of the piles



This picture is of the slab



The slab is a large slab sitting on top of piles. Now very much like tarmacadam in the way it is laid it is possible that it could depress as time goes by simply because the slab themselves are not connected other than through simple rebars. With the weight of the base, sub base, aggregates and blacktop the weight over time and the natural softness of the bog could cause issues.

What can be done? Not a lot more than what they have already done, short of taking up the slab(s) and making ONE MASSIVE SLAB across the entirety of the bog.

Roryhy

Berty, how recent are these pictures?

Sponge Bob

Jaysus lads , the pictures are 6 months old minimum if not indeed 18 The thing heaved and buckled afterwards

Can someone slip down there over the christmas for a shufty ??

bacon&cabbage

Article in todays Limerick Leader predicting that the N-L will not open until May.
The article mostly contained a re-hash of what has been said here already.
(Will post link when I find it)


I reckon there is now a real possibility that the SRR II/tunnel will open before it, given the rate of progress on that scheme

fresca

bacon&cabbage wrote: »

Article in todays Limerick Leader predicting that the N-L will not open until May.
...
I reckon there is now a real possibility that the SRR II/tunnel will open before it, given the rate of progress on that scheme

And maybe even Portlaoise/Cullahill/Castletown...

Berty

Sponge Bob wrote: »

Jaysus lads , the pictures are 6 months old minimum if not indeed 18 The thing heaved and buckled afterwards

Can someone slip down there over the christmas for a shufty ??

I know but the pictures were just to give an example of how they are built to give an idea of how they could possibly buckle under the build.

NOW. If they are planning on pouring concrete in these temperatures, with or without delays, they should be shot on the spot!! You cannot pour concrete in temperatures less than 3 degrees UNLESS the temperature is rising otherwise you get moisture compacting into the pour and thus creating air pockets.

Anyway, I will try to head down there tomorrow. There should be nobody on site so I should get a good looksy. Hopefully the gate will be open otherwise I will have to walk. I have a hi viz in the passenger seat so no bother.

Sponge Bob

A later picture of that slab, taken by tech2 our local mod in the late summer, showed your slab buckled and heaved Berty.

Berty

Sponge Bob wrote: »

A later picture of that slab, taken by tech2 our local mod in the late summer, showed your slab buckled and heaved Berty.

I will have a looksy. The best access point is South of Dalys cross at the flyover if that access is still open.

D'Peoples Voice

Sponge Bob wrote:

A later picture of that slab, taken by tech2 our local mod in the late summer, showed your slab buckled and heaved Berty.

these pictures?
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=62298458&postcount=459

Rovi

tech2 wrote: »

Is it possible that we could end up seeing a 1km depressed section of the M7 in a few years time?

We all know of 'bog roads' throughout the country that have defied whole generations of County Council workers' attempts to keep them vaguely level and surfaced, it would be wonderfully ironic if part of the Celtic Tiger's legacy to the country was a 'motorway' version of the same thing.

Berty

Try the Bog road from Nenagh to Athlone. I pulled over feeling dizzy after whalloping my head off the roof of the van years ago. Awful road but hardly any sub-base. Shur' just keep topping it up.

Sponge Bob

This one from tech2 . look at the slab between where the car is parked and Coffeys van

Mc Love

Havent read through the whole thread so i dont know if this has been mentioned, that the section from Bird Hill to Dalys Cross has a hit a road bump or has the road been swallowed up.

Story goes that NRA were told not to build on section of land because its a bad bog area and anything thats put there sinks. To get around this they will need to construct a bridge. They tried putting pillars down but couldnt find the bottom?

Anyone know if there is any truth in any of this. The person that told me said it was in nenagh guardian?

Berty

Your not a million miles away sparks. They say the bottom cannot be found at all. Such is a bog I guess. Like I said above if you build a bridge where do you put the columns without them sinking?

Amtmann

Berty, are things like this not surveyed thoroughly prior to construction? In your opinion, what has gone wrong with the process here?

Berty

Furet wrote: »

Berty, are things like this not surveyed thoroughly prior to construction? In your opinion, what has gone wrong with the process here?

I don't know how they tested it so I cant really say. What has gone wrong? They haven't found the bottom. Why? Well, if we knew how they tested it and knew why it was signed off then question 2 could be answered.

Mc Love

Yeah I was told the engineers were surveying it and a farmer said, you aint going to put a road there and he bet them if they parked a vehicle there and returned the next day he would be have gone or disappeared. Returned the next day and it was sunk into the ground.

They tried putting rods into the ground to a fairly substantial level and still couldnt find the bottom.

Regarding the pillars Berty, it would be one long fecking bridge! I dont think they can go around it. And as far as opening the motorway as far as birdhill, that is a joke in itself. How can they expect that to work?

The cars coming off the motorway will have to give way to the cars coming from the right which will have to way to the cars coming from Killaloe