Dublin Port Tunnel settles claims disputes
Aug 2010
Shani Wallis, TunnelTalk
- A protracted period of claims negotiations between the client and the design-build construction consortium of the Dublin Port Tunnel in Ireland has come to a close. A settlement, as recommended by the project's DRB (Disputes Review (or Resolution) Board), is reported as accepted by both parties to end more than three and half years of wrangling since the twin-tube, four-lane highway tunnel opened to traffic in December 2006. A report in the Irish Times newspaper suggests the final cost of the project, with all claims settled, is €789 million – some €639 million for the final construction cost, with an addition €100 million for property purchases, and another €50 million for project management, insurance and legal fees.
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Parties settle their tunnel construction differences
- The settlement reached is between Dublin City Council as the owner of the new 5.6km connection to the port, and the Nishimatsu-Mowlem-Irishenco consortium, which won the 43-month design-build contract in June 2001. The award tender price of €448 million included 2.6km of twin-tube shield-driven tunnelling, cut-and-cover transitions and surface works, plus design and installation of all the M&E services and systems. A project planning and tunnel excavation process that faced various hurdles and setbacks was followed by a finishing works period that encountered technical problems and issues that gave rise to claims and counterclaims between the parties. These included a claim by the owner against the contractor for technical problems that caused the new road to close after it had been inaugurated.
- The National Roads Authority (NRA), as the funding agent of the project, is reported as stating that the claims disputes had come to an appropriate conclusion.
- The new tunnel passes under the suburbs of Dublin and directs heavy port traffic to the ring road feeder to national highways and away from previous routes through the city centre. The NRA reports that an average of 16,100 vehicles use the toll tunnel road during weekdays with heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) accounting for about 6,250 of that traffic.
- A site visit article from the TunnelTalk Archive describes the planning phases and launch of the two tunnelling shields that excavated the twin 11.77m o.d. bored tunnels.
- Dublin coping with complicated conditions - TunnelTalk, September 2002
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