[Colm Moore]

http://www.irishrail.ie/news_centre/news.asp?action=view&news_id=668

Malahide Viaduct accident investigation by Corporate Communications

Iarnród Éireann’s investigation into the Malahide Viaduct accident has been completed, the company has stated.

A major accident was narrowly avoided on 21st August 2009, following the collapse of pier 4 of the viaduct. The line was closed for a period of almost 3 months, reopening on 16th November 2009.

The company submitted the complete report to the Rail Accident Investigation Unit, and the Railway Safety Commission on 19th February 2010, and is today (11th March 2010) publishing the report’s summary, conclusions, actions taken to date and recommendations (attached).


Company rejects claim of 2006 warning

In addition, Iarnród Éireann wish to correct the assertion in today’s Irish Independent that the company “was warned about serious erosion…three years before” this accident. This is untrue. The 2006 Bridge Scour inspection of the Malahide Viaduct, carried out for Iarnród Éireann by independent specialist diver engineers, did not state that there was any reason for concern about scour at that time. It stated that as the bridge was susceptible to scour, that underwater examinations should continue at intervals not to exceed 6 years. It was Iarnród Éireann’s investigation into the accident which, using external hydrological expertise, assembled available data on the viaduct and surrounding area, allowing modelling of the viaduct and the likely effects of water over time. It was this post-accident investigation, and not the 2006 report, which retrospectively concluded that scouring may have commenced at the time of the 2006 investigation, albeit some distance away from the piers.

Continued