Case Studies

Donacarney Footpath & Cycleway Scheme

TEAM

Infrastructure Team

Sector

Active Travel

Related Services

Active Travel, Pavement Design, Civil and Structural Design, PSDP and Employers Representative

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Overview of service

ORS provided Civil, Structural, Pavement Design and Project Supervisor Design Stage (PSDP) services from feasibility stage to handover on the Donacarney Footpath & Cycleway Scheme.

When completed, the scheme will comprise of 740m long of shared surface connecting the National School in Donacarney to Bettystown Village, realignment of R150 along the properties to the south of the school, road overlay, traffic calming measures, accommodation works to properties along the route, detailed structural design for a cattle underpass access ramps, which was linking the agricultural lands on the west to the lands on the east of the R150. We are acting as the employer’s representative for the construction stage in accordance with the NTA Project Management Guidelines.

Project Outcome

Following a thorough review of the brief, a desktop review of the local authority planning applications, traffic surveys, land registry, Myplan.ie, Google Maps and utility providers for the area to obtain a baseline level of information for the project. Upon conclusion of the initial desk study the following issues were identified:

The number of property owners along the length of the scheme that could be affected.
No public lighting along the route.
Services/utilities in the area that may require diversion.
Number of existing watercourses in the area.

Once the constraints were identified, a meeting was held with the client to discuss the findings and discuss the options. At this point in the project, the team identified and populated the potential obstacles with regard to all known constraints in advance of any detailed analysis. This led to two options; The first option was using the existing front walls/boundaries of the houses to the east as datum point and providing a 3.0m wide shared surface and widening the road locally to the west in front of the houses to achieve a 6.0m wide carriageway. The second option was maintaining the existing road edge and providing 6.0m wide carriageway with a 3.0m wide shared surface with localised accommodation works to residential properties along the frontage of the existing houses.

Following landowner engagement and initial agreement, the Part 8 Planning Application was prepared considering the owners’ considerations and upon approval the detailed design process began. The team identified underground investigations that would be required for the process and to obtain the maximum amount of underground information in relation to ground conditions, water levels, pavement cores and underground utilities survey.

Challenges & Solutions

By carrying out these surveys at an early stage, it allowed the ORS Project team build up a comprehensive knowledge of the underground conditions and look at the design accordingly considering pavement build ups, ground conditions, groundwater levels and utilities that required diversion around or over the underpass structure.

The site investigations identified a high-water table which was 0.8m below ground level in the area where the proposed cattle underpass was to be constructed. This posed a significant constraint and threat to the design and construction of the cattle underpass which was approximately 2.1m below ground level. The high-water table meant that the proposed underpass structure required waterproofing to mitigate against potential ground water ingress which would render the underpass unusable particularly during winter months.

The ORS team enlisted the services of a specialist waterproofing contractor that provided the ORS design team with a waterproofing design that mitigated the potential threat that groundwater would have on the structure.

The high-water table also meant that additional structural input and support was required from the ORS structures team to mitigate against uplift of the structure from the underground waterbody which also posed a significant threat to the long-term structural integrity of the structure.

The multidisciplinary structure at ORS enabled the project team to formulate timely and cost-effective solutions to the issues as they arose which gave the client certainty on timelines and ultimately cost. With our proactive approach to resolving issues as they arose on site it kept contractor delays to a minimum and ensured that health and safety was maintained throughout the construction phase of the works.

The ORS team provided employers representative services at the construction stage of the project, and this ensured that our client had cost certainty and the works were delivered on time and to standard.

Engineering Excellence

Expert engineering is an essential component in the overall approach to delivering high-quality active travel projects that are safe and attractive to use. ORS has a unique advantage in understanding the project requirements necessary to deliver successful high-quality active travel schemes. Our multidisciplinary approach combines our expert skills in civil and structural engineering, road safety, quality auditing, environmental, surveying and health and safety. ORS is currently involved in active travel schemes throughout Ireland, with multiple teams working across various stages of projects.

These stages include project feasibility, utility surveying, condition assessment, design, and safety auditing. Our experience in transportation planning, design and safety auditing can help any project in identifying best practices in design, managing public road interactions, signage, contract administration and construction practices.

Planning and designing appropriate active travel infrastructure is essential to ensure that linkages are permeable, connected to desired lines, and safe. Engineering high-quality infrastructure must consider environmental factors, including land ownership, drainage, public lighting, access, suitable surface materials and crossing points. All of which can be provided by the multi-disciplinary team at ORS