Malahide Media Coverage

[ThomasJ]

Irish Times
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...253195957.html

Inquiry focuses on seabed erosion

FRANK McDONALD and RONAN McGREEVY

EROSION OF the seabed under the Broadmeadow Estuary rail viaduct has been identified as the primary line of inquiry into its partial collapse, according to a preliminary assessment by Iarnród Éireann.

While not excluding other factors or possibilities, the investigation by engineers and other experts “centres on a recent and significant erosion of the seabed in the vicinity of the pier involved in [last] Friday evening’s incident”, the company said.

“It is believed that in a relatively short time-frame, possibly in recent weeks, a small breach occurred in a causeway plateau within the seabed. This would have resulted in changes to water flow, with increased water pressure on the area.

“Recent low tides, coupled with major rainfall on Wednesday, would have seen the volume and speed of water flowing out of the estuary increasing, causing water pressures to increase, with ultimately the forces of water pressure widening the breach quickly.

“The effect on the causeway plateau and seabed would ultimately result in the sudden and catastrophic undermining of the pier supports from below water level, resulting in the collapse of the pier on Friday evening,” Iarnród Éireann’s said.

The continuing investigation will examine “all other factors” relating to the viaduct, including tidal issues in Broadmeadow Estuary, rainfall and climatic issues as well as inspection of maintenance reports and procedures, with an input from all relevant personnel.

Iarnród Éireann said it would “immediately establish” an inspection team, assisted by independent advisers and overseen by a board committee, to inspect bridges and viaducts across areas of running water throughout the entire rail network.

Referring to last Tuesday’s inspection of the Broadmeadow viaduct by an engineer, it said this was “specifically a visual examination of the condition of the piers as visible above water, to ensure that any markings were cosmetic and not structural in nature”.

The inspection confirmed this, and Iarnród Éireann was “completely satisfied that the inspection was thorough, professional and accurate”. A track-monitoring vehicle had also travelled over the line last Thursday and no deviations from normal conditions were recorded.

The Broadmeadow viaduct’s last biannual inspection was carried out in October 2007 and the next such inspection was scheduled for October of this year. A separate inspection to assess water scouring and associated issues was carried out in 2006.

Iarnród Éireann said this inspection had been undertaken by independent specialists. “The outcome of this inspection was that no scour issues had arisen, and [it recommended] that the next scour inspection be scheduled for 2012.”

Labour Party transport spokesman Tommy Broughan TD called yesterday for a full review of Iarnród Éireann’s procedures for inspecting rail lines in the light of the collapse of the Broadmeadow viaduct.

The general manager of Translink, the Northern Ireland company which jointly runs the Belfast-Dublin Enterprise service along with Irish Rail, said yesterday he believed it would take up to six months for full services on the route to run again.

But Iarnród Éireann spokesman Barry Kenny said it was still sticking by its three-month time frame to replace the viaduct.

“At this point in time we would say six months is a bit pessimistic. It is our personnel that are on site and that is our own engineers’ best estimates – three months.”

He said the rail operator was pleased with the first day of operations yesterday where replacement bus services were put on routes affected by the collapse.

There will be one significant change from today. Direct buses will operate from Balbriggan to Dublin city centre. Yesterday people had to travel from Balbriggan to Skerries by train and then get a bus into Dublin.

[ThomasJ]

Independent
http://www.independent.ie/national-n...r-1868289.html

By Paul Melia


Tuesday August 25 2009

TRANSPORT Minister Noel Dempsey has ordered Iarnrod Eireann to carry out an urgent safety review of all viaducts and bridges which run across open water on the rail network.

And the rail company last night revealed that a preliminary investigation had identified erosion of the seabed as a possible reason for the collapse of a 20-metre section of the railway viaduct near Malahide, which has left thousands of commuters without a train service.

Investigators are now focusing on "recent and significant erosion of the seabed" as inspections of the viaduct in 2006 and 2007 found that it was structurally sound.

Heavy rainfall, coupled with low tides, may have seen water pressure increase on the bridge, which could have then caused the collapse.

Pressure

"It is believed that in a relatively short time-frame, possibly in recent weeks, a small breach occurred in a causeway plateau within the seabed. This would have resulted in changes to water flow, with increased water pressure on the area," the company said.

"Recent low tides, coupled with major rainfall on Wednesday, would have seen the volume and speed of water flowing out of the estuary increasing, causing water pressures to increase, with, ultimately, the forces of water pressure widening the breach quickly. . . The effect on the causeway plateau and seabed would ultimately result in the sudden and catastrophic undermining of the pier supports from below water level, resulting in the collapse of the pier on Friday evening."

Thousands of commuters are facing disruption for at least the next three months, with services to Balbriggan, Skerries, Rush, Drogheda and intercity services to Belfast affected.

Iarnrod Eireann's investigation will also examine tidal issues in the estuary, rainfall and climatic issues and inspection and maintenance procedures, and last night it said it would undertake a "detailed inspection" of bridges and viaducts across areas of running water.

This comes after Mr Dempsey ordered the review last Friday. A spokeswoman said the minister wanted the review completed as quickly as possible.

An Iarnrod Eireann board committee is to be established to oversee the investigation, and will retain independent advisers to assist. The company confirmed the viaduct was inspected twice last week, and that it stood over the quality of those inspections.

A full bridge inspection was also carried out in October 2007, with the next scheduled inspection in October this year.

Independent engineers also inspected the viaduct for scour -- or structural damage caused by water erosion -- in 2006 and no issues were raised

The next scour inspection is scheduled for 2012.

Last night Labour's transport spokesman Tommy Broughan called for a full review of the inspection regime, saying that if the bridge passed two inspections last week than there was something wrong with the system.

Investigations

There are now three separate investigations under way. The Rail Accident Investigation Unit is charged with establishing the cause of the incident, but it does not attribute blame or liability.

Iarnrod Eireann is conducting a separate inquiry, while the Railway Safety Commission will investigate if safety standards were complied with in relation to maintenance and inspection schedules.

Over €1.1bn has been spent upgrading the rail network under two railway safety programmes over the past decade.

- Paul Melia

[ThomasJ]

Belfast Telegraph
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/ne...-14467100.html

When will Belfast to Dublin train services be back on track?

Three-month timescale for repairs to collapsed viaduct is labelled ‘optimistic’... it could be more like 11 months

Tuesday, 25 August 2009



There have been calls for a definite time frame on how long it will take to repair the main Belfast to Dublin railway line following its collapse at the weekend.


Thousands of Ulster passengers face delays in their daily commute to the Irish capital after a viaduct collapsed into the Broadmeadow estuary near Malahide on Friday evening.

Irish rail authorities have said it could take around three months to repair the damage and get services back to normal, but there has been speculation that it could take as long as 11 months.

Wendy Blundell, from the Institute of Civil Engineers, described the collapse as “serious”.

“Probably three months is optimistic at this stage,” she said. “An inspection will take some time and then the remedial work is to take place. It depends if further damage has happened to the bridge and any of the other spans.

“I would have thought three months is fairly optimistic, and will probably take a bit longer than that.”

The first Monday-morning commuter passengers were faced with delays of up to 30 minutes yesterday as they were bussed between Drogheda and Dublin.

With thousands of Northern Ireland travellers using the service every week, there have been calls for greater clarity over when the service will be available again.

“Passengers who use the Enterprise Service need confirmation on how long it will take for the bridge to be repaired and services to return to normal,” said Aodhan O’Donnell, head of transport at the Consumer Council.

“This is particularly important for those who buy multi-journey tickets in advance.

“The collapse of the railway bridge near Malahide is an extraordinary situation and we are thankful that there were no injuries or deaths as a result.

“However, there is no doubt that it will cause severe disruption for passengers and commuters who rely on the Enterprise service to travel to and from Dublin.”

Meanwhile, there was further travel misery for one trainload of passengers to Dublin yesterday morning after the Enterprise service broke down en route to the Republic.

Around 100 commuters were left temporarily stranded at Lisburn after the 8am service to Dublin broke down.

Translink blamed a “mechanical failure” for the breakdown, which added a delay of around 45 minutes to the journey. The passengers aboard the train were transferred to another train to continue their journey, which departed from Lisburn shortly after 9am.

Passengers on a return service to Belfast also found themselves waiting at Drogheda for around 45 minutes last night following a delay in the bus connection from Dublin.

Translink have said that services to Dublin generally can expect a 20 to 30-minute delay on average in passengers' journey times.

In Dublin last night, Irish Transport Minister Noel Dempsey ordered Iarnrod Eireann to carry out an urgent safety review of all viaducts and bridges which run across open water on the Republic’s rail network.

And the rail company last night revealed that a preliminary investigation had identified erosion of the seabed as a possible reason for the collapse of a 20-metre section of the railway viaduct near Malahide.

Investigators are now focusing on “recent and significant erosion of the sea-bed” as inspections of the viaduct in 2006 and 2007 found it was structurally sound.

Heavy rainfall, coupled with low tides, could have seen water pressure increase on the bridge which could have caused the collapse.

“It is believed that in a relatively short time frame, possibly in recent weeks, that a small breach occurred in a causeway plateau within the seabed. This would have resulted in changes to water flow, with increased water pressure on the area,” the company said.

“Recent low tides, coupled with major rainfall on Wednesday, would have seen the volume and speed of water flowing out of the estuary increasing, causing water pressures to increase, with ultimately the forces of water pressure widening the breach quickly.

“The effect on the causeway plateau and sea bed would ultimately result in the sudden and catastrophic undermining of the pier supports from below water level, resulting in the collapse of the pier on Friday evening.”

Thousands of commuters are facing disruption for at least the next three months, with services to Balbriggan, Skerries, Rush, Drogheda and intercity services to Belfast affected.

Iarnrod Eireann's investigation will also examine tidal issues in the estuary, rainfall and climatic issues and inspection and maintenance procedures.

The company confirmed the viaduct was inspected twice last week, and that it stood over those inspections. A full bridge inspection was also carried out in October 2007, with the next scheduled inspection for October.

[ThomasJ]

Analysis from Frank Mc Donald for Irish Times

Irish Times
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...253138336.html

ANALYSIS: The collapse of a troublesome viaduct has created a logistical nightmare for Iarnród Éireann, writes FRANK McDONALD, Environment Editor.

THE VIADUCT over Broadmeadow Estuary has given trouble since it was first built by the Dublin and Drogheda Railway in 1844, mainly due to tidal scouring of its support piers. Indeed, the first structure – made entirely of timber – had to be replaced by wrought iron superstructure on stone piers as early as 1860.

As engineer Niall Torpey recounted in the Irish Railway Record Society’s journal, the superstructure had to be strengthened to carry heavier locomotives on the Dublin-Belfast line in 1932. The stone piers also needed regular attention because of Broadmeadow’s tidal scouring and were repointed in the 1960s.

“Finally, following the observed deterioration in the wrought iron in this marine environment, it was further replaced in the period 1966-1968 with the current prestressed concrete structure”, Mr Torpey wrote. Since then, no further major works were carried out on the viaduct, which is 180m (594ft) long.

In 1998, as Fine Gael transport spokesman Fergus O’Dowd recalled yesterday, International Risk Management Services (IRMS) identified sections of the viaduct as being among the most unsafe stretches of rail track in the country, assigning it a 60 per cent security risk on a scale where 5 per cent is “best practice”.

The IRMS report led to a major improvement in railway standards, including relaying track on precast concrete rather than wooden sleepers. Two follow-up reports, also by IRMS, in 2001 and 2003 monitored the progress on what Barry Kenny, spokesman for Iarnród Éireann, called “this massive investment programme”.

In 2003, the derailment of a freight train hauling cement wagons from Limerick Junction to Rosslare caused a section of the Cahir viaduct in Co Tipperary to collapse. But there was a major difference between that accident and the one that took place near Malahide on Friday, in that none of the Cahir bridge piers crumbled.

An investigation by the Railway Safety Commission of the Cahir derailment found “serious deficiencies” in Iarnród Éireann’s management of its infrastructure, and concluded that these critical shortcomings in the company’s inspection and maintenance regime “were principally responsible for the accident”.

According to Mr Kenny, every bridge on the rail network is thoroughly inspected at two-yearly intervals. The inspection of the Broadmeadow viaduct that was carried out last Tuesday – just three days before the collapse – was clearly not in this category; it was a purely visual inspection of the bridge deck and its support piers.

The Broadmeadow viaduct has 11 piers, one of which collapsed, bringing two of the deck spans with it.

The last full inspection of the structure was carried out in 2006, Mr Kenny said, and it paid particular attention to the effects of tidal scouring.

“No scouring issues were found at that time,” he told The Irish Times.

Local sources, say tides in the estuary were up to 4.5m (15ft high, which is stronger than usual. High tide was at about 1pm and low tide was shortly after the collapse at about 6pm.

A team of railway engineers, supported by divers, is now examining the viaduct’s stability to determine what needs to be done.

“We have to assess whether there is damage to the remaining sections of the viaduct,” Mr Kenny said. “The view at the moment would be to replace the damaged section with a single span, strengthening the adjacent piers to carry it.” However, he conceded that complete replacement cannot be ruled out.

It took 11 months to repair the damage to the Cahir viaduct, even though none of its piers needed to be replaced. The line it serves is one of the most underused in the rail network, with just two passenger trains a day, whereas the line severed by the latest viaduct collapse carried 10,000 passengers a day in each direction.

“If the whole viaduct is going to have to be rebuilt, it could be massive undertaking,” one railway engineering source said. “If one of the piers collapsed, there is a danger of this happening with others, because of the difficult conditions you encounter in a tidal environment with a lot of scouring of these structures over the years.”

Iarnród Éireann is fortunate that the collapse happened during the evening peak period, with no loss of life. Had it occurred at night, the company would now be faced with a severe logistical problem as nearly all of the suburban commuter trains are housed in the new maintenance depot at Drogheda station.

“We have 44 carriages there that can’t now be used on the rest of the network,” Mr Kenny said. “That’s 44 out of a total of 180, so it means that other services can be met” – on the Maynooth, Kildare and Gorey lines. Two of the four Belfast Enterprise trains were north of Malahide, which means they can be run to and from Drogheda.

As for the cost, Iarnród Éireann is certain to lose revenue from passenger fares as well as having to pay for replacement bus services. The physical work of repairing the damage will be considerable – a lot more than the €3 million bill that had to be met from reinstating the viaduct over the river Suir at Cahir.

[Mark Gleeson]

Irish Times Editorial

Keeping track of the railways

Inquiry focuses on seabed erosion | 25/08/2009

THE COLLAPSE of the rail viaduct over Broadmeadow estuary in north Co Dublin last Friday evening might have been a disaster, causing significant loss of life. A commuter train had just passed over it minutes earlier and another would have followed but for the alertness of driver, Keith Farrelly, who raised the alarm when he noticed the bridge starting to collapse as his train was crossing it.

That is how close we came to a real human tragedy on Irish railways. Amazingly, it transpired that the 180 metre-long viaduct had been inspected just three days beforehand and no evidence of any defect was reported to Iarnród Éireann. Yet after one of its support piers had crumbled, the State railway company was able to say there was “little doubt” that tidal scouring was a factor in the incident.

Rail Users Ireland spokesman Mark Gleeson rightly suggested that what happened raises serious questions about the maintenance and inspection regime on Ireland’s rail network – and not for the first time. After the derailment of a cement train caused the partial collapse of the Cahir viaduct in Co Tipperary, the Railway Safety Commission found “serious deficiencies” in Iarnród Éireann’s management of its infrastructure, and concluded in its 2006 report that these critical shortcomings in the company’s inspection and maintenance regime “were principally responsible for the accident”. The number of passengers carried on the line that runs through Cahir from Limerick Junction to Rosslare is minuscule compared to the 20,000 passengers per day using Dublin’s northern commuter line or the Belfast Enterprise express.

All of these rail users are now suffering great inconvenience as a result of the line being severed, with an estimated 30 minutes added to their journey times by transferring to replacement buses; some have reverted to using cars, thus adding to traffic congestion in the morning and evening peak periods. And this disruption to people’s lives is likely to continue for at least three months, and probably a lot longer, depending on whether a decision is made merely to repair the missing section of the viaduct or to replace the entire structure. Given that all of the remaining 10 piers standing in Broadmeadow estuary are subject to the same tidal scouring as the one that crumbled on Friday last, complete replacement might be the preferable long-term solution. Clearly, however, a project of such magnitude cannot be completed in a few months.

What all of this highlights is that, however good we may be at building things, we are woeful at maintaining them. Railway bridges are the most vulnerable sections of any rail network and, as Mark Gleeson said, “it is essential that all bridges are inspected nationwide to ensure no critical faults have been overlooked”. Although strapped for cash due to Government cutbacks – which, ironically, might include closure of the Limerick Junction-Rosslare line, as recommended by the McCarthy report –Iarnród Éireann must embark on a systematic programme of bridge inspections. A cursory glance is not enough if lives are to be saved.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...253192428.html

[Mark Gleeson]

James in the Independent

Commute 'a little slower' but real test still to come

IT was with a guarded optimism that James Shields reached his desk in the IFSC yesterday morning after a slightly later than usual journey from his home in Drogheda.

While the financial services professional experienced a relatively hassle-free journey into work on a coach supplied by Iarnrod Eireann, he is sceptical about how straightforward his journeys into work will be over the next three months.

Mr Shields usually leaves his home at 8.05am to cycle to Drogheda station where he picks up the 8.20am Belfast to Dublin Enterprise service, which means that he is sitting at his desk just after 9am.

Yesterday was the first day that he had to tackle the alternative arrangements following the collapse of the railway viaduct at Malahide which saw him catch a bus from the station at 8.30am and arrive in Dublin at 9.30am.

"I admit that I was expecting it to be worse than it was. I don't know whether it will be as good for all of the three months but we will have to wait and see," said Mr Shields, who is originally from the capital.

When he moved to Drogheda, one of the main reasons for picking the town was the good rail service on which he travels using a €1,600 annual ticket.

"The morning was surprisingly uneventful. The bus was from Drogheda station and came in through the port tunnel and there was a little bit of delay getting out of Drogheda with roadworks and a little bit of traffic around Swords," he said.

Test

"It wasn't too bad. I don't know whether that was a fluke. When the schools go back next week will be the real test."

Mr Shields' home time varies depending on the number of hours he has worked on a particular day.

He left his office yesterday evening at 7pm, arriving in Drogheda at 8pm. After his cycle home he arrived at his house at 8.10pm.

"I quite often get the Enterprise at 7pm but this evening, I got the bus at 7pm and arrived in Drogheda at 8pm. It is a little slower than the train but with all things considered, I can't complain. It normally takes 40 minutes on the Enterprise so 20 minutes was added to my journey.

"The first day hasn't affected me too much. It is a little bit of extra time travelling. If it goes as smoothly as today for the next few weeks, I won't be too worried," he said.

Mr Shields' hours are flexible but he said to ensure he meets the hours required, he "might have to look at getting an earlier bus to be in work on time".

"There are plenty of buses available this week but I am concerned about availability next week when the schools are back," he added.

- Shane Hickey

http://www.independent.ie/national-n...e-1868292.html

[Mark Hennessy]

Once again, more shocking safety implications as IE were told of the change in water flows

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...253270336.html

IARNRÓD ÉIREANN was warned about possible damage to one of the piers supporting the Broadmeadow Estuary rail viaduct five days before it collapsed.

One of the leaders of Malahide Sea Scouts in north Dublin contacted the company to report what he perceived to be erosion damage, along with a recent change in water flow in the estuary. “This wasn’t something that happened overnight,” said one of his colleagues, who did not wish to be identified. “We had noticed a massive change in the water flow over the past two months, with a third of it going through one of the arches that collapsed.”

...

The breach had happened weeks ago and “wasn’t noticed” by railway inspectors. “This wasn’t an ‘act of God’, as Iarnród Éireann seem to be suggesting, but something that was going on over a period of two months, and yet they took no action on it – that’s incompetence”.

[irishsaint]

yeah, read that in the it today..... what a disgrace. heads have to roll for that. Clearly and obviously there is serious incompetence in Irish Rails ability which stems from the TOP because if the men on the ground are not instructed to execute a full inspection including underwater analysis of the support structure after recieving details from people who are in an around the viaduct daily and relying on the water levels and flow.
If and it does, look like to people familiar with the viaduct noticed what appeared to them as errosion, the viaduct should have been put out of immediate use until a full inspection had been completed.
Irish Rail had put lives at risk which includes mine as I used the viaduct twice a day.

[tigger1962]

I agree, speaking as someone who used to paddle under the "arches" in malahide, I can quite clearly see that the bed layout and flow of the current is different from times I paddled there.....I was a bit taken aback by that photo! Irish Rail should have sent someone to do further checks on the sea bed! Many of the Sea Scout leaders are highly professional paddlers and well used to reading water flow changes.

[losexpectation]

Originally Posted by tigger1962

I agree, speaking as someone who used to paddle under the "arches" in malahide, I can quite clearly see that the bed layout and flow of the current is different from times I paddled there.....I was a bit taken aback by that photo! Irish Rail should have sent someone to do further checks on the sea bed! Many of the Sea Scout leaders are highly professional paddlers and well used to reading water flow changes.

whats different what should it look like?

[irishsaint]

Originally Posted by losexpectation

whats different what should it look like?

I dont know but I assume it should not look like a grand canyon rapid

[Colm Moore]

Originally Posted by losexpectation

whats different what should it look like?

I'm not sure if that really matters to us. It is the relatively sudden change that is the problem, not that it looks this way or that.

[ThomasJ]

From Breaking News

Collapsed rail bridge faced October inspection

A railway viaduct which collapsed into the sea was due to undergo a full bridge inspection in October, it emerged tonight.

Iarnród Éireann revealed the Malahide estuary crossing was scheduled to have its biennial assessment this autumn.

However the firm confirmed engineer divers only examine underwater structures every six years and the Broadmeadow Estuary Rail viaduct was not expected to be seen again until 2012.

A 20 metre section of the bridge, which carries more than 90 trains a day, fell into the sea on Friday moments after rush hour commuter services carrying hundreds of passengers passed over it.

Train driver Keith Farrelly averted tragedy when he spotted subsidence on the track and all services were suspended.

Iarnród Éireann confirmed a member of the public raised concerns at markings on piers on the Malahide Viaduct and over erosion to the piers four days before the incident.

Spokesman Barry Kenny maintained the firm responded promptly to the call from sea scout leader Ivan Barratt by having an engineer inspect the viaduct and its piers the following day.

“This assessment identified that there were no visible structural issues, and that all markings were cosmetic,” said Mr Kenny.

“We are satisfied that this is accurate, and that the markings identified were unrelated to Friday’s collapse.”

Mr Kenny said a track recording vehicle which travelled the line on Thursday - the day before the collapse – did not detect any deviations in the line either.

However Mr Barratt, who takes scouts canoeing up to three times a week on the estuary, claims he had noticed worsening erosion over a period of several months.

An initial Iarnród Éireann inquiry has found seabed erosion, caused by recent low tides and heavy rains, is suspected of being behind the collapse of the busy railway viaduct.

“It is believed that in a relatively short time-frame, possibly in recent weeks, that a small breach occurred in a causeway plateau within the seabed. This would have resulted in changes to water flow, with increased water pressure on the area,” added Mr Kenny.

Inspection and maintenance reports and procedures and climate factors will all be examined by Iarnród Éireann as part of its ongoing probe, he added.

Fine Gael said it was unacceptable an underwater examination of the railway infrastructure and surrounding seabed was not carried out when the concerns were highlighted.

Fergus O’Dowd TD called on Iarnród Éireann to publish its safety management system which was in place to monitor the Malahide estuary railway infrastructure.

“The public also needs to know how quickly normal service can be resumed,” he added.

Labour’s Tommy Broughan said the Department of Transport’s Rail Investigation Unit should also fully investigate the sequence of events including the phonecall made by a concerned member of the public.

“The reported warnings prior to the bridge’s collapse from a senior Malahide Sea Scout leader raise profound questions over the safety and inspection procedures that are currently in place at Irish Rail,” he added.

Elsewhere a special group has been set up to help minimise the disruption caused by the cancellation of rail services to deal with extra vehicles on the road and assist public transport providers.

There is a programme I enjoy watching "air crash investigation". In one of the episodes, where volcanic ash got into the engine all of the other engines as well also stopped. One of the implementations from this incident was that the aviation industry and geologists work together to ensure they are aware of the threat if it happens.

In my opinion, the people who are out there every day are more experts than these engineer divers because they see this area day in day out, not every 6 years! Thats why they spotted this problem and not IE days ago. If anything can be learned from this is that these people should be communicated with and they can show where the problem lies. By IE working with the local groups who use this stretch they may forsee this problem in future and deal with it promptly.

By doing a proper check they would have still cause untold chaos with the northern line but at least they wouldn't have had everyone from the government down questioning how they maintain their infrastructure. Fact is we have untold chaos and everywhere you look in the media you see that mess of a bridge!

Hopefully they will also examine how to sort this bridge out not just rebuilt and strengthen it. Maybe its time to have a look at how other countries deal with this problem.

[tigger1962]

that rapid never existed at that level of tide, the level used be at the rocks at each side of the current rapid and there would only be a trickle of water, not enough to paddle unless the tide was at a good level. That photo shows a nice fast and looks deep too.. I might have a few old photos or have friends who have photos of it before hand as a comparison.

[tigger1962]

as a ps... here is a description from playak.com it shoudl give you an idea of the changes based on the levels of watervisible in the photo.

This is a great series of tidal waves, especially in the summer when there is no water on the rivers. It consists of 12 arches in a railway embankment seperating the Broadmeadow river estuary from the sea. Depending on the tides the water either flows into or out of the estuary. When flowing into the estuary the water forms a series of green waves which are good for surfing but not particularly retentive. At very high tides watch out for good broken waves staight behind the main waves. Numbering the arches starting from one nearest Malahide, numbers 3 and 9 are generally the best, but these rapids are different everytime you go. It is only usually worth going when the tide height is above 4 metres. A tide above 4.4 provides some superb potential. Aim to be at the arches about two hours BEFORE high tide. The flow is best about an hour or two before high tide. There are no real dangers as the site is relatively safe. When the tide is going out, the arches are completely different. They then consist of small rock drops with some small stoppers. These are all pretty tame but be very careful as they are extremely rocky and there are a few bits of metal left from old wrecks, hence, capsizing here is unadvisable. The drops are best an hour or two before low tide but never have that much play potential.

[ThomasJ]

Drogheda Independent
http://www.drogheda-independent.ie/n...s-1869821.html

LOCAL firm Mathews Coaches has laid on extra services for commuters affected by the disrupted rail services following the collapse of a section of the railway line at Malahide last week.

' We have additional capacity on all our morning services to Dublin and the evening services home,' said Paddy Mathews.

The company has put extra coaches on the morning services which run every half hour from 6am to 9am and again for the return journey departing dublin from 3.30pm to 7.30pm.

And while Paddy reports a lot of enquiries from commuters, he says that many people have yearly tickets which they bought from Iarnrod Eireann for which they can't get refunds.

' There is a lot of interest in our service and it's certainly better than driving,' he said, pointing out that the direct service from Dundalk to Dublin takes just an hour and ten minutes, with the one which goes via Drogheda taking an hour and a half.

'The schools will be back next week so there will be a lot more traffic on the road.'

He also revealed that there has been an increase in the number of students intending to commute to college in Dublin instead of seeking accommodation in the city.

'It's much cheaper for students to commute and with the downturn in the economy we are seeing a big uptake in the number of students buying tickets for the new term.

All our buses are wi-fi enabled and once you have a ticket, you are guaranteed a seat,' he pointed out.

Commuting by bus is a particularly viable option for students attending colleges on Dublin's northside such as DCU, St Pat's, and Marino College.

' We even have students going to Maynooth as they can get a train from Drumcondra,' he said.

- Margaret RODDY

[tigger1962]

Matthews run a good service and they do annual tickets if your company will deal with them. The only issue is they go to parnell st which means a walk for southside users. We were told by the drivers yesterday that they will be running extra services via the port tunnel to the ifsc from monday!!

[ThomasJ]

Independent
http://www.independent.ie/national-n...l-1871896.html

By Paul Melia


Friday August 28 2009

CRITICAL railway safety checks have not been carried out for the past three years because the watchdog does not have enough staff.

And Irish Rail admitted last night that its inspection regime -- covering more than 1,200 bridges -- would need to be reviewed after one of the busiest rail lines in the country collapsed into the sea last week.

The Railway Safety Commission (RSC) has revealed that it was too busy approving new rail projects to carry out planned safety checks, and it was only able to recruit its full complement of safety inspectors this year.

The RSC is charged with ensuring Irish Rail and other operators perform to the highest safety standards, but last night it emerged that just half the necessary staff were in place to cope with the huge workload of checking safety systems.

And it emerged:


The RSC had warned about a lack of inspectors since it began operations in 2006.
It said this "lack of resources" prevented it from "devoting the time we would wish" to safety checks.
It had just four inspectors responsible for almost 2,000km of rail line and hundreds of bridges until this year.
Only in 2009 could it recruit an additional three inspectors, bringing the total employed to seven.

The Broadmeadow viaduct, which runs over open water in north Dublin, collapsed into the sea last Friday despite being passed as safe following two inspections by Irish Rail engineers.

The company last night stood by its inspection regime, defending a decision to pass the structure as safe despite being told by the Malahide Sea Scouts that one of the supporting piers was damaged.

It has also emerged that the pier that collapsed, causing the viaduct to fall into the water, will not be rebuilt. Instead, engineers will strengthen the line.

But serious questions have been raised over how a supposedly 'safe' bridge could fall into the sea after two inspections.

There are also concerns about safety on the network, especially as the Railway Safety Programme was extended from five to seven years in an effort to reduce costs in last year's Budget.

Ensuring that bridges, viaducts, rail lines, level crossings and all other pieces of rail infrastructure are safe is a key plank of the RSC's brief.

Last year, it also approved 57 infrastructure projects, ranging from construction of new bridges to approval of Luas extensions, which led to it postponing inspections.

"The number of railway projects that required RSC approval meant that we were able to commit less time to performance auditing and monitoring than we would have wished," it warned in its 2008 report.

"A safety management system is only as effective as its implementation. Assessing the railway undertakings' safety case compliance is an essential part of the RSC's work but lack of resources has, in the past, prevented us devoting the time we would wish to this task."

Fine Gael's Transport spokesman Fergus O'Dowd said that the Railway Safety Programme had seen its funding cut, and that there was a "lack of accountability" in relation to the Broadmeadow inquiry.

"They're the regulator of the industry and the guarantor of safety on the trains. I would be very concerned," he said.

Under the Railway Safety Act 2005, Irish Rail is required to commission an independent audit of its safety management system every four years. The next audit is scheduled for 2010.

It will consider if inspections of the Broadmeadow viaduct were regular enough, and if an underwater survey of the pier should have been conducted.

Irish Rail and the RSC are also expected to appear before the Dail Transport Committee next month to answer questions about safety.

- Paul Melia

[tigger1962]

not nice

A STARK warning that the entire viaduct north of Malahide may have to be replaced, resulting in years of disruption to Dundalk commuters, emerged yesterday ( Tuesday)

Louth County Councillor Mark Dearey revealed the 'very worrying possibility' had been gleaned from former Green Party leader, Trevor Sargent.

'He uses the Northern rail line several times a day, and has been keeping in close contact with engineers who are investigating the collapse of the bridge at the Broadmeadow Estuary.'

The Minister of State had contacted Cllr Dearey yesterday to relay the 'worst possible scenario' that had emerged. 'Engineers are saying that if their initial assessment is correct that sea bed erosion led to the partial collapse of the viaduct then there is a strong possibility that other areas of the viaduct have been compromised,' said Cllr Dearey.

'If this is true, we are talking about years of disruption, and it doesn't bear thinking about the severe impact this will have on the local economy in Louth and across the North East.'

He added that as the viaduct was built in 1844, 'The day may have come when we are looking at the need for it to be re-built.'

Iarnrod Eireann stated on Monday evening that erosion of the seabed under the rail viaduct has been identified as the primary line of inquiry into its partial collapse.

Investigating engineers have learned that over recent weeks a small breach occurred in a causeway plateau within the seabed, which would have resulted in changes to water flow, with increased water pressure on the area.

'Engineers are now assessing if there is degradation in other areas of the viaduct, and if there is, we will urgently need to look at the long term contingency plans for the DundalkDrogheda-Dublin commuter network.'

- Olivia RYAN

[ThomasJ]

thats a serious possibilty but there are reports now that iarnrod eireann plan on using a temporary bridge to transport drogheda/dundalk (could be in place in 3 months...) while they work on the problem