Irish Railway Record Society

Journal 170 - LUAS

SYSTEM EXTENSIONS

Line A1 (Belgard-Citywest) Cookstown Rd has been realigned at its junction with Cookstown Way as part of the Embankment Rd extension scheme and in preparation for the construction of Line A1. Site clearance work is progressing along the length of the alignment.

The RPA is currently procuring contractors for its element of the project works.

Line B1 (Sandyford-Bride’s Glen) The additional sidings at Sandyford Depot are complete and are in use. There are three new through sidings, while the former stub siding at the northern boundary of the site has been converted to a through siding. The total length of sidings has increased from 600m to 1,600m.

Area 13 (Sandyford-Murphystown Rd) The inbound platform at Sandyford is to become an island platform with a new track being laid between it and the road. Inbound trams will normally use the new track, while outbound services will stop at the existing outbound platform. The centre track, the existing inbound line, will become a bi-directional line.

The junction connecting the existing line between the Sandyford stop and the depot with the B1 extension has been installed. It consists of a crossover just south of the stop connecting the outbound track to the centre track and then a facing turnout to the outbound track on the extension. On the inbound track there is a crossover south of Sandyford stop allowing trams from the extension go either to the new inbound platform or to the centre track. The new inbound track will connect to the existing line just north of platform.

The line from the junction at Sandyford to the top of the Brewery Rd Bridge has been completed and overhead line equipment (OHLE) support masts have been erected. With the exception of a short section through the site of the Central Park stop, track laying is complete along the southern edge of the Central Park site and over the bridge across the M50 adjacent to the Leopardstown interchange.

Work on the underground electrical sub-station at Glencairn is progressing steadily.

Area 14 (Murphystown Rd-Ballyogan Wood) A new boundary wall, separating the alignment from Glencairn Heath has been completed. Track laying alongside Ballyogan Rd, between Glencairn Crescent and Ballyogan Wood is largely complete and the erection of OHLE support masts is underway. The structure of the electrical sub-station at Leopardstown Abbey is complete.

Platforms construction at The Gallops and Leopardstown Valley stops is well advanced.

Area 15 (Ballyogan Wood-Bride’s Glen) Track and OHLE masts have been installed across the M50 bridge adjacent to the Carrickmines interchange. Trackbed works are continuing from the eastern end of the bridge to the Carrickmines stop.

Track laying has been completed from just south of the Carrickmines stop to Bride’s Glen. Erection of OHLE support masts is continuing. Work at the Brennanstown and Laughanstown stops is well advanced, while at Ballyogan Wood, Racecourse, Carrickmines, Cherrywood and Bride’s Glen good progress is being made.

Line BXD (St Stephen’s Green-Broombridge) At its meeting on 13 July, An Bord Pleanála considered the Inspector's report and other submissions in respect of Dublin City Council's application for planning approval for the proposed Marlborough Street Public Transport Priority Bridge linking Eden Quay at Marlborough St with Burgh Quay at Hawkins St. The Bord was of the opinion that the bridge, not having a significant adverse effect on the environment, would be in accordance with the proper planning and sustainable development of the area and approved the development.

However, the Department of Transport, which will fund the project, said work on the new bridge would only begin once Metro North gets planning permission and the Cabinet decides to approve the multi-billion euro system.

Line C1 (Connolly Station-Point Depot) Good progress has been made over recent months, with a number of significant milestones being achieved.

Area 16 (Store St/Connolly-Mayor Sq) Work on the delta junction at Harbourmaster Pl was completed by the end of July. On two Sundays, 19 and 26 July, services on the Red Line were suspended between Abbey St and Connolly until 09:15 for the erection of OHLE support poles at the junction. Over the August Bank Holiday weekend the line between Abbey St and Connolly was closed from end of services on Friday 31 July until start of services on the Tuesday 4 August. This was to allow the installation of the OHLE contact wire on the two new sides of the delta junction and for a short distance into Harbourmaster place. From 1 August all OHLE contact wires installed on Line C1 are considered to be live.

Track laying is progressing well through the area, By early August just two short sections of the eastbound line had to be completed. The erection of OHLE support poles and head span wires was well advanced. Construction of the westbound platform at the George’s Dock stop is well advanced and the installation of platform furniture has commenced.

Area 17 (Mayor Sq-Point Depot) Work on the stop at Mayor Sq is progressing apace with surfacing work underway. Platform construction and fitting out works are also well advanced at the Spencer Dock and Point stops. Track laying is complete and OHLE support poles and head span wires/cantilevers have been erected along much of this part of the line. Installation of the contact wire has started at the Point Stop.

Spencer Dock Bridge The construction of the bridge over Spencer Dock proved to be a complex undertaking. Firstly, the Royal Canal was pumped dry to facilitate the construction of 72 foundation piles and the bridge's two central piers. Temporary falsework was also constructed on the bed of the canal to support the formwork used to construct the bridge deck. The formwork for the underside of the bridge deck consisted of a carefully assembled arrangement of 250 individually profiled expanded polystyrene blocks, which, when assembled allowed the bridge's undulating curved surface be formed.

In September 2008, with all the blocks and steel reinforcement in place, the bridge spine was cast using 80 trucks of concrete. These were poured in one day, resulting in a smooth finish on the underside of the bridge deck. To give the bridge its strength, 500 ‘post tensioning’ steel cables were fixed into the bridge deck.

After the bridge's spine had been cast, the footpaths and viewing galleries were constructed as 28 individual reinforced structural concrete elements. When all the concrete in the bridge deck had cured, the 500 steel cables were tensioned and grouted. The parapet system on the bridge is made up out of 34 unique precast units, which were manufactured from specially designed individual expanded polystyrene moulds. All the formwork was milled directly from 3D parametric computer models. To date, this innovative use of cut polystyrene is the largest application of the material to be used in this way. The light coloured finish of the concrete provides high visibility against the dark water of the canal and at night the structure will be lit from below.

The installation of the track proved to be particularly challenging. The four rails were suspended from special frames to allow the completion of reinforced concrete deck around the track. A 'floating track' system was used across the bridge, in which the rails were separated from the bridge structure by a special rubber mat system to minimise noise and vibration impacts. Finally the bridge received a special surfacing layer whose main component is special stone aggregate material called carborundum, which has reflective properties that sparkle in the sunlight.

There will be no OHLE support poles on the bridge. Instead the contact wires will be suspended from span wires, which in turn are attached to four support poles positioned on the canal banks at each corner of the bridge.

The bridge was opened to westbound traffic on 16 June.

STOCK

New Trams Delivery of new Type 402 trams to Sandyford depot is on-going:

No.            Delivered

5003............. 22 May

5004............ 12 June

5005............... 6 July

5006............. 24 July

5007.......... 3 August

5008......... 10 August

Trial running and driver training is continuing. It is planned that the first of the new trams will enter traffic during September. Once a sufficient level of in-service reliability has been achieved the transfer of Type 401 trams (4001-14) to the Red Line will commence.

IKEA Trams 3025 on the Red Line and 4014 on the Green Line are carrying internal advertising, including new seat covers, for IKEA whose first store in the Republic opened on 27 July.

TENDERS

Park+Ride The RPA has sought tenders from companies wishing to operate Park+Ride sites on both the existing lines and on the extensions to Saggart and Bride’s Glen

Copyright © 2009 by Irish Railway Record Society Limited
Revised: October 30, 2009 .