December 2008 - Halcrow

Major bypass operation
N9 opens on time and to budget
Halcrow’s ability to exceed expectations
– even when a project team is spread
across hundreds of kilometres – has been
demonstrated once again with the success of
the N9 Carlow Bypass project.
The celebrated bypass opened to traffic in
June 2008, after just over two years of site
work and an 18-month design effort.
The N9 road is a national primary route in
Ireland, running from Junction 11 on the N7
located near Kilcullen in County Kildare, to
Waterford. The bypass was almost completely
funded under Ireland’s £146 billion national
development plan for 2007-2013 – the largest
and most ambitious investment programme
N9 Carlow Bypass
ever proposed for Ireland. It was the first
section of the N9 route to open to traffic.
The challenging £60 million design and
build project provided 20km of new dual
carriageway, three grade separated interchanges
and 19 major bridge structures.
The Glasgow office led Halcrow’s highways,
drainage and structures design work, with
assistance from the Dublin, Tees Valley,
Handforth and Swindon offices. A business
collaborator extranet site was used
throughout the design process to manage
the huge volume of work produced by team
members at the various locations.
Congratulating project manager Neil Stewart
and the team for rising to the huge challenge
presented by a delayed start, regional director
Sam McCurdy said: “This project contributes
towards the completion of Ireland’s strategic
road network by 2010, providing the state with
one of the best road networks in Europe. It is
testament to the ability of Halcrow Barry.”
Halcrow
in the dock
New home for Royal Navy’s
biggest-ever aircraft carriers
he dockyards of Rosyth, on the
T
Firth of Forth in Scotland, are being
transformed into a majestic setting,
capable of assembling two massive new aircraft
carriers for the Royal Navy.
HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales
are the largest warships ever commissioned by
the Royal Navy. Following the construction of
constituent parts in Glasgow, Barrow in Furness
and Southampton, the mighty warships will be
assembled in the dockyards of Rosyth.
Coming in to land on one of the new aircraft carriers
Led by the Glasgow office, Halcrow designed the
alterations to the original 1916 Royal Dockyards
to accommodate these titans of the sea. This
included widening the entrance for the aircraft
carriers to glide through.
The N8 team: project director – Bob Diffin, project manager – Brian Johnstone,
construction supervision – John Norbury, Alan Oliver, Peter Sheehy, Janet Slattery and Rob Merredew.
Partners: NRA, South Tipperary County Council and contractor Sisk Roadbridge Civil Engineering
Beat the clock
Cashel-Mitchelstown road opens early
Ireland’s 41km-long N8 Cashel-Mitchelstown
road scheme opened to traffic on 25 July
2008 – ten months ahead of schedule.
Led by Bob Diffin and Brian Johnstone,
Halcrow Barry project-managed delivery of
the £360 million N8 scheme from the initial
planning stages through to completion. It’s
the largest road project the joint venture has
undertaken to date and was completed in just
eight years.
“This project clearly demonstrates the
benefits of teamwork and a partnering
approach. It is a credit to the Dublin and
Glasgow project team,” said Bob.
Located on the major inter-urban route
between Dublin and Cork, it’s the first early
Cashel-Mitchelstown road
contractor involvement scheme undertaken
by Ireland’s National Roads Authority (NRA).
At the opening ceremony, Martin Mansergh,
minister of state at the department of
finance, said: “This road, which runs through
the heart of South Tipperary, will be of major
benefit to the people and the economies
of adjoining towns in terms of jobs and
investment, and indeed will make the whole
county more accessible.”
Commissioned by Babcock, the works are taking
place behind protective ‘cofferdam structures’
which keep the water at bay while Halcrow and
contractor Edmund Nuttall carry out the
£35 million modifications.
Halcrow has designed a ‘propped gate’ to
enable new sections to be lifted inside while
works are taking place.
The entrance will be widened to 42m after the
existing walls have been demolished. With
25m deep foundations, the new structure will
safeguard the dock’s operational capability.
Ensuring a dry dock working environment
for ship assembly, Halcrow designed
three widened caisson gates and a new
intermediate gate to hold back 15m of
water pressure.
Halcrow is also designing foundations to
support a goliath crane. Withstanding
the relentless North Sea winds, this
structure has a span of 120m and a
1,100 tonne capacity, making it one of
the largest of its kind in the world.