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Child Item

N25/N30 - New Ross Bypass [open to traffic]

King Kelly

This week's local papers have the listings of CPO's for the New Ross bypass so some relief in prospect at the bridge in town.

Are their any images of the new river crossing available? I'm told it will be the highest bridge in Ireland. True? Where it's due to join the Waterford road at Glenmore is certainly a high point.

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alta stare

Was up on it this evening. Lots of people up walking on it. It is a fantastic piece of infrastructure.

Joey Joe-Joe Jr

I have tickets for tomorrow’s walk but I can’t make it. :-(
One adult, two children.
Anyone interested?

blindsider

Well done folks! Looks amazing and can't wait to use it - hopefully next weekend!

carlfleming

The charity walk on Saturday was excellent. If you're going today, try to get there no later than noon as there were long delays getting parked, upwards of 30 mins.

The slope of the bridge took me by surprise. Despite all the photos and videos, it looks much sharper and more ominous when you're there in person. The gentle curve of the road before the bridge also adds to the scene and makes it an impressive sight. It's just as well there are small parking lay-bys on the Wexford side as it will be a popular photo spot.
Watch out for the expansion gap at either end of the bridge, the mini weather stations on the bridge railings, and look in to where the support cables connect to the deck in the central median.

There's water available when you finish the walk. Enjoy!

JohnC.

Doesn’t seem to be any real effort to stop people heading off early. I turned up over an hour early and there were dribs and drabs already heading over the bridge.

m17

The barrow crossing 25/01/20

JohnC.

Wexford side

Kilkenny side

Short tubes are the lights that shine up the cables

One of the big expansion joints, at each end

Looking down on the former N25 from the soon-to-be N25

m17

The barrow crossing 26/01/20

Hibernicis

sideswipe wrote: »

Run/walk entry now available, limited places:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/n25-new-ross-bypass-charity-walk-tickets-89815541703

Sideswipe

Major thanks for this - delighted to have got tickets thanks to the heads up you gave. We really enjoyed the walk today, a real treat and a privilege to have had the opportunity to participate.

Some random reflections on the day:

The ascent from the Glenmore side is steep and you reach the top before the bridge is visible. An impressive slow reveal follows. There is a brown name sign here with the bridge forming a backdrop and I’d be very very surprised if this doesn’t turn into an informal lay by for visitors to stop and take pictures - a significant number of walkers stopped here and stood under the sign for pictures/selfies. (John C has posted just such a picture)

The ascent from the Wexford side is very surprising, most of it is on the bridge itself which I would never have expected based on the photographs of the bridge side-on (which make the bridge look almost level). It results in a dramatic upward view of the piers and cables as you ascend.

The views from the bridge (north towards New Ross and beyond to the Blackstairs and south towards the coast and the twin stacks of Great Island power station) were much more exciting than I expected.

The Pink Rock road looks puny and desolate when viewed from above.

The event was exceptionally well organised, marshals and stewards pleasent and helpful throughout and the entire diverse attendance in good spirits. The parking was the best I’ve seen at an event in this country.

The hillbilly radio station at the starting line was like a throwback to a 1970’s pirate. It did a great job keeping the crowd amused and informed when waiting at the starting line. The DJ mentioned that yesterday’s attendance included a 4 month old baby and a woman two weeks away from her hundredth birthday. Couldn’t help but think what that child will see in her/his lifetime if she/he reaches that lady’s age.

The weather couldn’t have been better. Especially the blue sky over the bridge as we looked back for one last glimpse from the finishing line.

The first one off this morning was a lad in a wheelchair. He shot off at speed and left runners and walkers in his wake. He was well into the return leg descending towards the finishing line at great speed while we were still on the outward stretch. His face beamed the joy that comes from the thrill of speeding downhill. For a moment I was envious.

I counted six Drones (could be a double count in there). I wonder if more of the footage will be available (Hint, Hint Insta_Mavic)

There are two all too short laybys on the Wexford side of the bridge, one on either side of the road. These are well positioned and give a good view of the bridge.

I’m not an engineer so I won’t even try to describe the elements of the construction or how impressive it all is when viewed close up. But it is amazing and impressive and a privilege to see such a fine construction from close up.

The overall project encompasses some long sweeping curves, most of which incorporate inclines, set against a dramatic backdrop that promises to be a driver’s delight. Roll on Thursday !

I took quite a few pictures, I’ll make an effort to select and post a few decent ones if I can figure out how to do so.

sideswipe

No worries Hibernicis. Great summation of the walk. I’ll post a few pics too when I can.

Really enjoyed a close up view of the bridge, a truly magnificent piece of infrastructure. We as a nation are quick to moan and complain but credit where it’s due here, I shall enjoy driving on it and not being stuck in traffic in New Ross.
Nice for kids to get to walk it before it opens, something they’ll remember every time they cross it for years to come. My 9 year old ran/walked it with me and broke into a sprint to get to the KK county line marker first, she’ll always remember that!!

The incline/decline is deceptive from photos, reminds me of the steep pitches you get on sea bridges in the US, Florida in particular.

sideswipe

Couple of pics from yesterday:

xGrK2TZB9MPr6CuCDyDTSfJ5H7rYM4wNeDHvnvMr0iU-1536x2048.jpg

xqA5cbCwrMq2UPUzrarrgwX9LzjUbTgcFgdkxBM1a20-1536x2048.jpg

CtuNokVykJgRStFv84zlUyavWtFcz-NiYfPtAkJhDLc-1536x2048.jpg

-wrPOM9CVELHkzh3ee5GhlaF8cBhpl5FDp8MBNkwxRU-1702x2048.jpg

83404586_10219017811088706_2133411200539557888_n.jpg?_nc_cat=106&_nc_ohc=JHAcMC_AxSwAX9TH4D9&_nc_ht=scontent.fdub4-1.fna&oh=6da48fcc307109a64c2db63f2a06a272&oe=5EDB8BC2

m17

The barrow crossing 26/01/20

VR6

Fantastic pics everyone and thanks so much M17 for your excellent coverage over the years of the building project.

Are there signs to warn "No hard shoulder on bridge" ? It does look awfully narrow !

road_high

That old section of N25 looked atrocious. I drove one day lately for a look and it's hard to believe that was a National route once. And not that long ago? When did the Glenmore-New ross scheme open? Mid 90s or was it earlier?

gman2k

I heard some of the volunteer marshalls were allowed to drive across the bridge after the event yesterday.

spacetweek

To be clear, it's the whole bypass opening on 30th, not just the bridge segment?

mercury16

This has probably been asked and answered before but why, is the bridge built as narrow with just barely the two lanes on either side. The Suir crossing / Waterford city bypass, is in my humble opinion the correct width, was it money?

alta stare

spacetweek wrote: »

To be clear, it's the whole bypass opening on 30th, not just the bridge segment?

I think so. The bypass outside New Ross (Wexford side) has been completed a while.

alta stare

mercury16 wrote: »

This has probably been asked and answered before but why, is the bridge built as narrow with just barely the two lanes on either side. The Suir crossing / Waterford city bypass, is in my humble opinion the correct width, was it money?

Yeah it is narrow alright it was the first thing i noticed when i got on it. I did not walk the rest of the road only the bridge, is the rest of the road that narrow aswell?

marno21

spacetweek wrote: »

To be clear, it's the whole bypass opening on 30th, not just the bridge segment?

Yes. The majority of the bypass has been complete with months. It’s just the bridge and approach we’ve been waiting on

Chris_5339762

road_high wrote: »

That old section of N25 looked atrocious. I drove one day lately for a look and it's hard to believe that was a National route once. And not that long ago? When did the Glenmore-New ross scheme open? Mid 90s or was it earlier?

Up until the early 90s nearly, this was the route around Dungarvan.

https://goo.gl/maps/HxZzyUhbUmYnWUnw6

https://goo.gl/maps/3r75JbMhSS3gir229

spacetweek

mercury16 wrote: »

This has probably been asked and answered before but why, is the bridge built as narrow with just barely the two lanes on either side. The Suir crossing / Waterford city bypass, is in my humble opinion the correct width, was it money?

The expected traffic levels just don't justify anything wider.

josip

road_high wrote: »

That old section of N25 looked atrocious. I drove one day lately for a look and it's hard to believe that was a National route once. And not that long ago? When did the Glenmore-New ross scheme open? Mid 90s or was it earlier?

I think it opened in 1991.
The road was originally laid down in 1910 according to my granduncle.
When it was a national route, it was considerably wider than what you see now.
The verges have been allowed to grow in, and in many places the road has been artificially narrowed with embankments to discourage overnighting.

road_high

Chris_5339762 wrote: »

Up until the early 90s nearly, this was the route around Dungarvan.

https://goo.gl/maps/HxZzyUhbUmYnWUnw6

https://goo.gl/maps/3r75JbMhSS3gir229

Wow. Those corkscrews were unreal. Must have taken hours to get from Waterford to Cork back then let alone Wexford.

NedNew2

josip wrote: »

I think it opened in 1991.
The road was originally laid down in 1910 according to my granduncle.
When it was a national route, it was considerably wider than what you see now.
The verges have been allowed to grow in and in many places, the road has been artificially narrowed with embankments to discourage overnighting.

There were (and still are) two railway bridges over the old Ross-Waterford road at acute angles. There was chaos and lengthy delays whenever a lorry met another at these bridges. Sadly many suicides occurred there also. There were countless accidents and many fatalities on that stretch of road. Some ended up in the Barrow. It has a dark and tragic past.

josip

NedNew2 wrote: »

There were (and still are) two railway bridges over the old road at acute angles. There was chaos and lengthy delays whenever a lorry met another at these bridges. Sadly many suicides occurred there also. There were countless accidents and many fatalities on that stretch of road. Some ended up in the Barrow. It has a dark and tragic past.

Aye, ever since the monks cursed the town.

road_high

NedNew2 wrote: »

There were (and still are) two railway bridges over the old Ross-Waterford road at acute angles. There was chaos and lengthy delays whenever a lorry met another at these bridges. Sadly many suicides occurred there also. There were countless accidents and many fatalities on that stretch of road. Some ended up in the Barrow. It has a dark and tragic past.

Really? Jesus that is gruesome. I'm sure the accident fatality rate must have been fairly grim for sure. To be fair the N25 has been fairly transformed the past 30 years plus.

josip

I was never allowed to get a dog or a cat growing up, life expectancy was too short on the road.
But if a stray wandered in, then that was ok and they were gladly adopted.
The longest any of the pets ever survived, was a mongrel terrier for 2 years.
The shortest was a black kitten that had been with us for 6 days.

road_high

josip wrote: »

I was never allowed to get a dog or a cat growing up, life expectancy was too short on the road.
But if a stray wandered in, then that was ok and they were gladly adopted.
The longest any of the pets ever survived, was a mongrel terrier for 2 years.
The shortest was a black kitten that had been with us for 6 days.

Did you live right along the old road?

josip

road_high wrote: »

Did you live right along the old road?

Yes. I would have cycled along it to school by myself from 3rd class, so that would have been 8 years old.
There were many benefits to living on the road, you could get a bus from your gate into town. Even the express to Waterford would drop you off at the gate if you asked them nicely in New Ross.
You learned from an early age to be careful, but I think because it was narrow, the traffic was also more considerate to pedestrians and cyclists, especially if they were children.
The artics especially would usually bide their time behind you if there was any oncoming traffic.
I remember the first day the traffic changed. The neighbours emerged from their houses onto the road like Londoners after a WWII bombing raid. It only took my mother a week to come out with, "You'd miss the traffic all the same".