Pain in the Drain

Thargor

Is it just a Galway thing or is it nationwide for the drains on the side of the roads to be a foot deep pothole with sheer sides with the grate at the bottom instead of on top so you could cycle over it without being catapulted. As it is Id say they'd catch car tyres never mind bikes and they seem to be all over the city in random places and on hills where you'd be going fast. You dont see them until you're on top of them either and they're invisible in the dark. They're like permanent landmines waiting to injure people. Thought I was dead today when my front tyre went into one up at the IT but I managed to brake enough so it was just a bad whack when the front tyre went down the hole.

Captain Havoc

I can think of two off the top of my head in cycle lanes in Kilkenny.

Thargor

They're insane, theres no need for them either if they just set the grate on top with a bit of concrete, Id say its harder to mould these foot deep tunnels into the tar than it would be to set the grate on top, they wouldnt always be clogged with debris then either.

BostonB

Man holes that sink after repairs a few inches down, are another death trap.

monument

From Documenting Dublin's Cycle Lanes...

Thargor

I could live with one of those, that looks like you could fail to see it and get away with a nasty bump, Im talking about ones in Galway that are a foot deep and will bring the bike to an instant stop while your body carries on over the handlebars, they always seem to be on recently surfaced roads aswell.

poochiem

Don't talk. I'm from Galway but live in Dublin and while I sympathise with people complaining about some of the bad cycle lanes here I know how third world it is at home. bit like having the occasional electricity, being under water etc

DirkVoodoo

Ha, I was just on google maps looking for the stretch of track between Nutley avenue and UCD flyover which is not only falling apart, but riddled with drains and manhole covers.

You can actually see the surface in tatters and the drains in the satellite imagery. Along the entire stretch there are 25 drains/manhole covers. The distance (rough measurement) is ~ 300m.

monument

Thargor wrote: »

I could live with one of those, that looks like you could fail to see it and get away with a nasty bump, Im talking about ones in Galway that are a foot deep and will bring the bike to an instant stop while your body carries on over the handlebars, they always seem to be on recently surfaced roads aswell.

The photo might not give the best depth perspective, but I'd really not try to cycle over it my tires (as in the photo), which are not the smallest in the world.

DirkVoodoo wrote: »

Ha, I was just on google maps looking for the stretch of track between Nutley avenue and UCD flyover which is not only falling apart, but riddled with drains and manhole covers.

You can actually see the surface in tatters and the drains in the satellite imagery. Along the entire stretch there are 25 drains/manhole covers. The distance (rough measurement) is ~ 300m.

The cycle track on the Stillorgan Road, and the N11 around there in general is a mess. Must get around to photographing the messy parts of the whole route.

ednwireland

theres a drain cover on my road in where the slats are in line with the road !

Jumpy

ednwireland wrote: »

theres a drain cover on my road in where the slats are in line with the road !

One in Limerick too on the Careys road.

Coronal

DirkVoodoo wrote: »

Ha, I was just on google maps looking for the stretch of track between Nutley avenue and UCD flyover which is not only falling apart, but riddled with drains and manhole covers.

You can actually see the surface in tatters and the drains in the satellite imagery. Along the entire stretch there are 25 drains/manhole covers. The distance (rough measurement) is ~ 300m.

I hate that particular stretch, it's really bad and involves a lot of cycling on the N11 itself, which is never fun. I think I hit one of the drains the first time I was on it and ever since I've been a lot more wary of them.

cdaly_

Another nasty stretch on the Clontarf Road at St Anne's Park. Concrete surface with tyre-width joints right down the middle of each cycle lane. I just ride in the traffic lane or on the footpath...

morninwood

ednwireland wrote: »

theres a drain cover on my road in where the slats are in line with the road !

i used to live in a small town in germany and ended up in a drain cover where the slats (which are just wide enough to fit a racing wheel in) were in line with the road as well. my front wheel got caught in them sending me flying. obviously the wheel was completly fooked so i went to the local police station and reported the incident in order to claim the repair costs back from the authorities.
got a letter in the post two weeks later which informed me that there is no way a wheel could get caught in them. went down to the cops again and had a lenghty discussion to no avail.
sent a letter (included the invoice for the new wheel as well ) to the local council telling them that they should re-check using a road bike instead of a mountain bike. must have worked as they reimbursed me for the full amount.
is the council over here responsible for covering such damages as well?

ednwireland

morninwood wrote: »

is the council over here responsible for covering such damages as well?

No they are not reponsible for anything if you talk to them (i must photgraph that and send it to them just so they cant say they didnt know)

Donegal county council id 50 million in debt already this year so cant see them doing anything for a few years

DirkVoodoo

cdaly_ wrote: »

Another nasty stretch on the Clontarf Road at St Anne's Park. Concrete surface with tyre-width joints right down the middle of each cycle lane. I just ride in the traffic lane or on the footpath...

First time out to Howth with a friend, my wheels got stuck in one, bike did the pre crash wobble but somehow managed to stay upright. There was a van very close to my right, if I had fallen off there is a good chance I would have ended up under his wheels.

I also know a guy who hit a drain where the grille was running parallel to his wheel, had a very nasty fall.

Turbulent Bill

cdaly_ wrote: »

Another nasty stretch on the Clontarf Road at St Anne's Park. Concrete surface with tyre-width joints right down the middle of each cycle lane. I just ride in the traffic lane or on the footpath...

I've the same story on my commute, except the concrete has cracked parallel to the road direction across the whole width of the lane. Really, really easy to tramline the bike in any of these.

ednwireland wrote: »

No they are not reponsible for anything if you talk to them (i must photgraph that and send it to them just so they cant say they didnt know)

Donegal county council id 50 million in debt already this year so cant see them doing anything for a few years

I think the council is only responsible if they haven't repaired (or have poorly repaired) a known existing hazard - no joy for the first victim to identify it. Drivers generally don't get compensated for tyre damage caused by new potholes, but if the pothole has the usual half-a$$ repair and still causes damage then the council is liable.

KevR

Thargor wrote: »

I could live with one of those, that looks like you could fail to see it and get away with a nasty bump, Im talking about ones in Galway that are a foot deep and will bring the bike to an instant stop while your body carries on over the handlebars, they always seem to be on recently surfaced roads aswell.

Sometimes they don't scrape up enough or any of the old surface before putting the new surface on top. This means the level of the road is then higher than the drain. :mad:

monument

morninwood wrote: »

is the council over here responsible for covering such damages as well?

From The Irish Times:

Council not liable for bike crash on poor road

A JUDGE has said it is difficult for lay people to understand the legal concept of "non-feasance" that allows a local authority to let a roadway deteriorate to an "unsatisfactory" state and escape liability for injury.

Dismissing a cyclist's personal injury claim for €38,000 damages, the Circuit Court president, Mr Justice Matthew Deery, said it was the law that a road authority could in effect sit back and do nothing about maintaining a road.
Derek Bradley, an alarm technician, Cappagh Road, Finglas, Dublin, told the court that he broke his left thumb after falling off his bike when it struck a concrete lip on Abbottstown Road, Finglas, in February 2006.


He underwent surgery to have pins inserted in his thumb, which was partly malaligned. He suffered discomfort when gripping things.


John Doherty, counsel for Dublin City Council, told the court that the roadway had been examined by forensic engineer Paul Romeril who found the concrete road had well passed its design life of 40 years and had broken up.


The lipping of which Mr Bradley had complained had arisen from heave rather than subsidence where the bitumen joints had not been maintained, leading to water ingress into the road base.


Mr Doherty told the court the road was constructed more than 50 years ago. The judge said Mr Bradley was passing a parked car at a point where the road had been wide enough for him to manoeuvre safely around the raised lip.


Engineering evidence revealed the road had not been maintained and this amounted to non-feasance on the part of the council for which it was not liable.

But there has been a case more recently with another road user where a council had denied liability, but gave a settlement -- also from The Irish Times: €850,000 settlement for road incident

Beasty

monument wrote: »

From The Irish Times:

But there has been a case more recently with another road user where a council had denied liability, but gave a settlement -- also from The Irish Times: €850,000 settlement for road incident

I understand the distinction is as follows:

If the road deteriorates over time through "wear and tear", the Council have no obligation to put it right, and no claim arises through any accident caused by the state of the road.

If the road has been repaired/resurfaced, but not up to normal standard, the Council/contractor should be liable for any claim arising because of the poor workmanship/negligence involved