O&M Limerick Tunnel PPP

The Limerick Tunnel project commenced in July 2010 and comprises of a 675m dual bore tunnel crossing of the River Shannon in Limerick. The project has an extensive fibre optic Intelligent Transport System (ITS) and state of the art tunnel control and response SCADA system monitored from a manned control room on a 24/7/365 basis.

From July 2010, Lagan Operations & Maintenance Ltd undertook the contract to provide daily operations and maintenance management on behalf of the client for the Project Road. The routine & cyclical maintenance of the road and the tunnel comprised the tunnel mechanical, electrical, ITS and SCADA. Access for maintenance activities was balanced with road user availability though the utilisation of regular tunnel bore closures utilising full contra flow traffic management through the tunnel.

Lagan O&M developed specific emergency procedures in full liaison with the local emergency services and the statutory bodies overseeing the operation of tunnels in accordance with European legislation, directives and regulations. Procedures range from minor incident response for breakdowns on the road or tunnel to major emergencies requiring a regional mobilisation and response.

In addition to the tunnel assets, Lagan Operations & Maintenance also operated and maintained the associated Project Road including approximately 10 km of high speed dual carriageway, 2.5km single carriageway link road, 11 bridges and 14 other structures. Maintenance operations include pavement condition and surveys and inspections and repairs to line marking, structure inspections, safety barriers, street lighting and other road furniture. From 2016, Lagan O&M partnered with Egis and the contract is currently provided under our Egis Lagan Services joint venture.

Routine Maintenance & Inspections of Tunnel and Roadway

• Daily patrols, safety inspections, safety patrols, detailed inspections of Minor repairs, washing & upkeep of roads and tunnel
• Maintenance of roadways, structures, pavements, mechanical, electrical and control equipment
• Management of maintenance schedules and inspections

Control of traffic management on roadway & tunnel

24/7 control room supervision

Emergency & incident response

• Roadside assistance for minor incidents
• Emergency procedures and liaison with emergency service during major incidents

Winter Maintenance

• Weather Forecasting
• Salt spreading
• Snow clearing

A key element of our service at the Limerick Tunnel is the scheduling and implementation of a planned maintenance inspection schedule. We provide and utilise a Routine Maintenance Management System (RMMS) database in recording, planning and execution of all routine maintenance and inspections. This system schedules all inspections including regular safety inspections and functional testing typically conducted by site personnel, detailed inspections and services completed by specialist contractors and principal inspections undertaken by Chartered Engineers.

We implement regular traffic management to allow maintenance access to assets within the tunnel bores. This takes the form of overnight single lane, contra-flow traffic management within a bore to allow works access to the other bore. In this way disruption to the road user is minimised while ensuring that assets in the tunnel are appropriately maintained.