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April 2008 Update April 2008: Phase 4 Knocktopher to Powerstown Main Works - Design & Build - Contract Signing On Friday 4th April, Kilkenny County Council as Lead Authority and Roadbridge Sisk Joint Venture trading as SRB Civil Engineering Ltd signed a contract for the construction of the N9/N10 Phase 4 Knocktopher to Powerstown High Quality Dual carriageway/Motorway. The total scheme cost is 467 million euro and represents the largest project ever undertaken by Kilkenny County Council. This contract is the final phase of the Kilcullen to Waterford road (one of five Major Inter Urbans) originally identified in the Government's 2000 -- 2006 National Development Plan, reaffirmed in Transport 21 and the Current National Development Plan, Towards 2016. The completion date for the Contract is 30th November 2010 which is line with the targets set in Transport 21. The National Roads Authority has provided the funding and the technical back-up to enable the scheme to reach this stage and to allow construction to commence. Kilkenny County Council (together with Tramore House Regional Design Office) has project managed the scheme since 2000 on behalf of Carlow and Kilkenny County Councils. Arup and Roughan O'Donovan Faber Maunsell Alliance Consulting Engineers brought the scheme through the Preliminary Design and the Statutory Procedures (publication of CPO and EIS) and will act as employer's representative for the duration of the construction phase. An Bord Pleanala granted Approval for the project in December 2005. The Contract for Phase 4 will tie -in with the N9 Phase 2 Waterford to Knocktopher Road (which is currently in course of construction by Ascon Ltd, Cork) at Sheepstown, Knocktopher and will proceed north to include 41 Km of new Dual Carriageway/Motorway to a tie-in with Phase 1 - Carlow Bypass at Powerstown, south of Carlow (due to open in early Summer of this year), currently under construction by Ascon Ltd, Kill, Co Kildare. The Scheme will include 3 grade separated junctions -- at Danesfort on the existing N10, at Dunbell (from where the new 6 km.Kilkenny Link Road will start) and at Paulstown (from where a 1.1 km link to the existing N9 and N10 will be constructed), the construction of the Kilkenny and Paulstown links, the realignment of the R699 from the new junction at Sheepstown to Knocktopher Village (including Traffic Calming measures in the village)and realignment of the existing N10 at Danesfort through the new junction there. In addition, there are three signature bridges over the Kings River, the Nore and the Barrow. The project will provide realignment of single carriageway local roads where they intersect with the new road and farm accesses at various locations. Speaking at the signing ceremony, the Cathaoirleach of Kilkenny County Council, Mr Tom Maher acknowledged the co-operation of the many property owners whose lands and properties will be affected by the construction of this project. He also thanked the valuable input and consideration received from the farming representative bodies in the design stage and lead in to the land acquisition and construction stage of the project which is now imminent. Mr Maher further pointed out that the route will facilitate balanced regional development of Waterford as a Gateway City and Kilkenny and Wexford as supporting hubs as set out in the Government's National Spatial Strategy 2002- 2020. The new road will have major benefits for communities in the counties of Waterford, Kilkenny and Carlow. It will remove national traffic from the villages of Knocktopher, Stoneyford, Dungarvan, Thomastown, Gowran and Paulstown and will reduce traffic on sections of the Ring Road in Kilkenny and on the existing N10 approaches to Kilkenny City with resultant environmental improvements, particularly in noise and air quality, for people in these communities. There will be a significant reduction in travel time between Waterford and Powerstown. Combined with the new Carlow Bypass and the section between Carlow and Kilcullen which is currently under construction the resultant travel times between Waterford, Kilkenny, Carlow and Dublin will also be dramatically reduced. This should make the South East area significantly more attractive for industrial and other investment. Accident rates on the new Dual Carriageway/Motorway are expected to be greatly reduced relative to those experienced on the existing road network and therefore should result in an overall reduction in accidents on the combined network.
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For more information contact: Senior
Engineer, Kildare National Roads Design Office, or:
N9/N10 Project Coordinator, Kilkenny County Council, |
