IARNRÓD ÉIREANN was warned about possible damage to one of the piers supporting the Broadmeadow Estuary rail viaduct five days before it collapsed.
One of the leaders of Malahide Sea Scouts in north Dublin contacted the company to report what he perceived to be erosion damage, along with a recent change in water flow in the estuary. “This wasn’t something that happened overnight,” said one of his colleagues, who did not wish to be identified. “We had noticed a massive change in the water flow over the past two months, with a third of it going through one of the arches that collapsed.”
He said there was “no doubt that the flow pattern had changed” due to the erosion of the causeway beneath the viaduct, creating “rapids” under this arch right alongside the pier than crumbled last Friday.
“White water was spewing through it. One of my colleagues phoned Iarnród Éireann on Monday week and said it was in danger of collapse,” said the member of the sea scout group, which organises canoeing and other water sports in the area. It was as a result of this call that an inspection was carried out the following day. But whatever happened, the subsidence of the causeway was not picked up.
“They did nothing about it. Only when it collapsed did they see the problem. Yet we could see that there was a serious problem developing long before it happened, over a period of two months, and it should have been taken more seriously by Iarnród Éireann.”
The sea scout leader said the causeway was intact in May. But the photographs taken in July showed that it had been breached, and he had given these to the Department of Transport’s rail investigation unit.
The breach had happened weeks ago and “wasn’t noticed” by railway inspectors. “This wasn’t an ‘act of God’, as Iarnród Éireann seem to be suggesting, but something that was going on over a period of two months, and yet they took no action on it – that’s incompetence”.
Iarnród Éireann spokesman Barry Kenny confirmed that the company had been contacted last Monday week by an individual from the area.
“He said there was exposed stonework on one of the piers and was concerned that there was a crack in this pier,” he said.
“The inspection that took place on Tuesday [the following day] found that the markings were cosmetic rather than structural”, he added.
On Monday Iarnród Éireann said it was “completely satisfied that the inspection was thorough, professional and accurate”.Asked whether the call had referred to causeway erosion in the vicinity of the pier, Mr Kenny said “the focus was on the stonework and markings of the pier”.
