Civil Engineering
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In October 2018 Murphy were awarded the Newbridge South Outer Relief Road project, conveniently located close to Murphy Ireland headquarters in Newbridge, Co. Kildare.
This was a significant contract for Kildare County Council / LIDL Ireland to realign the existing R445, create a new access road into the new LIDL RDC distribution centre and continue the new road to Great Connell, which all formed the first stage of the relief road around Newbridge town.
The project involved the full construction of a 1.6km new road to differing profiles, which facilitates access to the wider site for development of the LIDL regional distribution centre and for future developments.
Works also involved the realignment of 1.2km of the existing R445 and the reconstruction of 1km of an existing road network, including the construction of the new road, roundabouts for future road connections and adjacent site development.
The project duration was 14 months and it was completed on time in November 2019, with the LIDL RDC distribution centre opening that same month.
This project included the installation of new precast culverts at two locations on tributary streams of the river Liffey. Works in the vicinity of these streams were carried out in consultation with the project ecologist and Inland Fisheries Ireland.
Other significant works involved the installation of a deep foul sewer, up to 8m deep. This was value engineered by the project team by realigning the sewer from the carriageway into the verge and enabled the use of acceptable backfill material won from site, in lieu of imported aggregates.
During excavation of the existing R445 carriageway, large quantities of aggregates were excavated. These aggregates were recycled, tested and reused on site as class 600 material. Careful programme management ensured that there was no programme clash between the two operations, demonstrating how environmental concerns can be successfully addressed without losing valuable time on projects. All other excavated materials were reused on site to form embankments and berms. This saved many hundreds of vehicle movements to and from the project.
Precast concrete products were used extensively throughout, with precast headwall units installed at all shallow culverts. Unique cable and junction communication precast chambers were also used instead of block-built chambers. These reinforced concrete units can be installed quickly with the one-piece construction design preventing groundwater leakage and assembly requirements. Using this example of value engineering also decreased risks in manual handling and reduced costs while benefiting the programme.
Under further value engineering solutions, the existing storm/foul sewer, service ducts and a roundabout were validated. Where required, remedial work was carried out without the need to replace with new, making it a win-win situation for Client, Contractor and the Environment.
“One of the major challenges of this project involved a deep sewer at a depth of approximately 8m in extremely poor ground conditions. However, thanks to our carefully constructed programme, experienced direct labour force and strict quality control, Murphy Ireland were able to ensure there was no reworking to be done on the project, avoiding a source of waste that can often plague construction projects.
While the road has been a necessity for LIDL to access their new regional distribution centre, this also forms the first leg of the planned Newbridge outer relief road which will drive business development in the local community and greatly relieve traffic congestion in Newbridge. The new cycle and footpaths have also provided an important 5km recreation route for the local community, especially during recent lockdowns.”
We work with clients in the roads, rail, aviation and ports infrastructure sectors to bring innovative solutions to complex problems. We provide a complete end-to-end civil engineering service, which includes planning, design, construction and implementatio in Ireland.