COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

south dublin county council crest

MEETING OF TALLAGHT AREA COMMITTEE (2)

Monday, January 24, 2011

QUESTION NO. 4

QUESTION: Councillor S. Crowe

To ask the manager can he give a report on the ongoing problem of water lodging and in some cases freezing on the new O'Toole Bridge between Tallaght Village and St Dominics  causing  hardship and difficulties for local residents using the bridge and will he outline the measures he proposes to take to resolve this problem.

REPLY:

South Dublin County Council are presently engaged in the Taking In Charge (TIC) process with the Developer of this bridge P. Elliott & Co. This process involves the assessment of the bridge for compliance with the Specification for the bridge and all other standards that would have applied at the time the bridge was designed.

To date P. Elliott’s have been engaged in ongoing remedial actions to achieve a TIC standard and we support their efforts. We have been monitoring this progress and are satisfied that a TIC standard has been achieved on many elements of the structure.

The area of standing water is always very contentious particularly in the design of external areas such as steps, landings and platforms. We had Elliott’s undertake remedial actions to minimize the amount of standing water in such areas through a combination of thin applied leveling compound, grinding and core drilling and have eliminated most hazards.

We have put considerable efforts into making this bridge as safe as possible for all users. Because the bridge and approach steps and ramps were designed as “open to the elements” structures, all involved in the planning and construction process accepted that rain, snow and ice would fall and occur here at the same rate as any other part of Tallaght. Our visits indicated that the bridge and associated elements were no more hazardous than similar bridges and pavement throughout our area. As in all cases extreme care is necessary in such extreme weather conditions.

On completion of the remedial works the bridge will be TIC by this Council. The TIC process will place additional pressure on Council resources to attend to the usual routine maintenance issues of the bridge.