Malahide Media Coverage

[tigger1962]

I agree, speaking as someone who used to paddle under the "arches" in malahide, I can quite clearly see that the bed layout and flow of the current is different from times I paddled there.....I was a bit taken aback by that photo! Irish Rail should have sent someone to do further checks on the sea bed! Many of the Sea Scout leaders are highly professional paddlers and well used to reading water flow changes.

[losexpectation]

Originally Posted by tigger1962

I agree, speaking as someone who used to paddle under the "arches" in malahide, I can quite clearly see that the bed layout and flow of the current is different from times I paddled there.....I was a bit taken aback by that photo! Irish Rail should have sent someone to do further checks on the sea bed! Many of the Sea Scout leaders are highly professional paddlers and well used to reading water flow changes.

whats different what should it look like?

[irishsaint]

Originally Posted by losexpectation

whats different what should it look like?

I dont know but I assume it should not look like a grand canyon rapid

[Colm Moore]

Originally Posted by losexpectation

whats different what should it look like?

I'm not sure if that really matters to us. It is the relatively sudden change that is the problem, not that it looks this way or that.

[ThomasJ]

From Breaking News

Collapsed rail bridge faced October inspection

A railway viaduct which collapsed into the sea was due to undergo a full bridge inspection in October, it emerged tonight.

Iarnród Éireann revealed the Malahide estuary crossing was scheduled to have its biennial assessment this autumn.

However the firm confirmed engineer divers only examine underwater structures every six years and the Broadmeadow Estuary Rail viaduct was not expected to be seen again until 2012.

A 20 metre section of the bridge, which carries more than 90 trains a day, fell into the sea on Friday moments after rush hour commuter services carrying hundreds of passengers passed over it.

Train driver Keith Farrelly averted tragedy when he spotted subsidence on the track and all services were suspended.

Iarnród Éireann confirmed a member of the public raised concerns at markings on piers on the Malahide Viaduct and over erosion to the piers four days before the incident.

Spokesman Barry Kenny maintained the firm responded promptly to the call from sea scout leader Ivan Barratt by having an engineer inspect the viaduct and its piers the following day.

“This assessment identified that there were no visible structural issues, and that all markings were cosmetic,” said Mr Kenny.

“We are satisfied that this is accurate, and that the markings identified were unrelated to Friday’s collapse.”

Mr Kenny said a track recording vehicle which travelled the line on Thursday - the day before the collapse – did not detect any deviations in the line either.

However Mr Barratt, who takes scouts canoeing up to three times a week on the estuary, claims he had noticed worsening erosion over a period of several months.

An initial Iarnród Éireann inquiry has found seabed erosion, caused by recent low tides and heavy rains, is suspected of being behind the collapse of the busy railway viaduct.

“It is believed that in a relatively short time-frame, possibly in recent weeks, that a small breach occurred in a causeway plateau within the seabed. This would have resulted in changes to water flow, with increased water pressure on the area,” added Mr Kenny.

Inspection and maintenance reports and procedures and climate factors will all be examined by Iarnród Éireann as part of its ongoing probe, he added.

Fine Gael said it was unacceptable an underwater examination of the railway infrastructure and surrounding seabed was not carried out when the concerns were highlighted.

Fergus O’Dowd TD called on Iarnród Éireann to publish its safety management system which was in place to monitor the Malahide estuary railway infrastructure.

“The public also needs to know how quickly normal service can be resumed,” he added.

Labour’s Tommy Broughan said the Department of Transport’s Rail Investigation Unit should also fully investigate the sequence of events including the phonecall made by a concerned member of the public.

“The reported warnings prior to the bridge’s collapse from a senior Malahide Sea Scout leader raise profound questions over the safety and inspection procedures that are currently in place at Irish Rail,” he added.

Elsewhere a special group has been set up to help minimise the disruption caused by the cancellation of rail services to deal with extra vehicles on the road and assist public transport providers.

There is a programme I enjoy watching "air crash investigation". In one of the episodes, where volcanic ash got into the engine all of the other engines as well also stopped. One of the implementations from this incident was that the aviation industry and geologists work together to ensure they are aware of the threat if it happens.

In my opinion, the people who are out there every day are more experts than these engineer divers because they see this area day in day out, not every 6 years! Thats why they spotted this problem and not IE days ago. If anything can be learned from this is that these people should be communicated with and they can show where the problem lies. By IE working with the local groups who use this stretch they may forsee this problem in future and deal with it promptly.

By doing a proper check they would have still cause untold chaos with the northern line but at least they wouldn't have had everyone from the government down questioning how they maintain their infrastructure. Fact is we have untold chaos and everywhere you look in the media you see that mess of a bridge!

Hopefully they will also examine how to sort this bridge out not just rebuilt and strengthen it. Maybe its time to have a look at how other countries deal with this problem.

[tigger1962]

that rapid never existed at that level of tide, the level used be at the rocks at each side of the current rapid and there would only be a trickle of water, not enough to paddle unless the tide was at a good level. That photo shows a nice fast and looks deep too.. I might have a few old photos or have friends who have photos of it before hand as a comparison.

[tigger1962]

as a ps... here is a description from playak.com it shoudl give you an idea of the changes based on the levels of watervisible in the photo.

This is a great series of tidal waves, especially in the summer when there is no water on the rivers. It consists of 12 arches in a railway embankment seperating the Broadmeadow river estuary from the sea. Depending on the tides the water either flows into or out of the estuary. When flowing into the estuary the water forms a series of green waves which are good for surfing but not particularly retentive. At very high tides watch out for good broken waves staight behind the main waves. Numbering the arches starting from one nearest Malahide, numbers 3 and 9 are generally the best, but these rapids are different everytime you go. It is only usually worth going when the tide height is above 4 metres. A tide above 4.4 provides some superb potential. Aim to be at the arches about two hours BEFORE high tide. The flow is best about an hour or two before high tide. There are no real dangers as the site is relatively safe. When the tide is going out, the arches are completely different. They then consist of small rock drops with some small stoppers. These are all pretty tame but be very careful as they are extremely rocky and there are a few bits of metal left from old wrecks, hence, capsizing here is unadvisable. The drops are best an hour or two before low tide but never have that much play potential.

[ThomasJ]

Drogheda Independent
http://www.drogheda-independent.ie/n...s-1869821.html

LOCAL firm Mathews Coaches has laid on extra services for commuters affected by the disrupted rail services following the collapse of a section of the railway line at Malahide last week.

' We have additional capacity on all our morning services to Dublin and the evening services home,' said Paddy Mathews.

The company has put extra coaches on the morning services which run every half hour from 6am to 9am and again for the return journey departing dublin from 3.30pm to 7.30pm.

And while Paddy reports a lot of enquiries from commuters, he says that many people have yearly tickets which they bought from Iarnrod Eireann for which they can't get refunds.

' There is a lot of interest in our service and it's certainly better than driving,' he said, pointing out that the direct service from Dundalk to Dublin takes just an hour and ten minutes, with the one which goes via Drogheda taking an hour and a half.

'The schools will be back next week so there will be a lot more traffic on the road.'

He also revealed that there has been an increase in the number of students intending to commute to college in Dublin instead of seeking accommodation in the city.

'It's much cheaper for students to commute and with the downturn in the economy we are seeing a big uptake in the number of students buying tickets for the new term.

All our buses are wi-fi enabled and once you have a ticket, you are guaranteed a seat,' he pointed out.

Commuting by bus is a particularly viable option for students attending colleges on Dublin's northside such as DCU, St Pat's, and Marino College.

' We even have students going to Maynooth as they can get a train from Drumcondra,' he said.

- Margaret RODDY