CASE STUDY
Drummartin Link Road and Blackthorne Drive junction.
Making critical infrastruc ture s a f e r f o r v u ln e ra b le r o a d u s e r s Clonmel Enterprise’s upgrade of Drummartin Link Road and Kilgobbin Road for Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council is one of several road network schemes being undertaken to make the capital’s wider road network safer for vehicle users, cyclists and pedestrians.
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lonmel Enterprises has recently completed the construction of a new one-kilometre stretch of cycle track and pedestrian route, including landscaping, along the Drummartin Link Road and Kilgobbin Road section of the N31 south Dublin link road. In late 2019, Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council appointed Clonmel Enterprises as the main contractor and project supervisor construction stage (PSCS) to construct the new pedestrian route and cycle track just north of the Beacon Hospital across the Sandyford Rotary Interchange and along the Kilgobbin Road. The project initially experienced delays due to the first Covid-19 shutdowns, but it has to some degree benefitted from the restrictions as there was reduced vehicular traffic for much of the time that the works were ongoing.
THE BRIEF
The brief for the project was for the construction of new on- and off-road cycle facilities along Drummartin Link Road, upgrading the junction with Blackthorne Drive and through the Sandyford Rotary Interchange and along Kilgobbin Road. The works included installing several new pedestrian and cyclist crossings and upgrading existing traffic signals with cyclist and pedestrian phasing. In addition, the contract covered all associated works, comprising earthworks, ducting and resurfacing, and all
30 irishconstructionnews July 2021
New Beacon Hospital approach on Drummartin Link Road. traffic management. The €5m project was initially planned to be completed in 12 months, starting from March 2020. However, the Covid-19 pandemic impacted the programme schedule. As a result, a revised programme was issued once construction recommenced on 18 May 2020. According to the Clonmel Enterprises engineering manager Anne Kinsella, the programme was extended due to extensive changes required to mitigate Covid-19 risks on site. “We adjusted the programme for subcontractors to work consecutively instead of concurrently on site to ensure social distancing measures were followed. When the more recent Level 5 restrictions came in from January, the client, after reviewing the scheme, determined that it met the requirements for an exemption as the scheme is providing critical infrastructure in the area for cyclists