Product category:
Timber Buildings and Timber Products
News Release from: Coillte Panel Products | Subject: SmartPly
Edited by the Buildingtalk Editorial
Team on 02 July 2008
SmartPly precision choice for Limerick
tunnel
After assessment and evaluation, German construction company Strabag International selected FSC certified OSB from manufacturer SmartPly over other panel product alternatives.
After serious consideration and an exhaustive environmental impact study, it was agreed that a tunnel under the river Shannon was needed to offer necessary and long term socio-economic benefits to Limerick and the surrounding area The tunnel will be capable of handling up to 40,000 vehicles per day and the removal of this many vehicles from the city centre will eliminate traffic congestion, improve air quality, lower CO2 emissions and allow for further pedestrianisation and greater public transport facilities for Limerick city centre The construction of the new Limerick Tunnel is one of the largest projects undertaken in the west of Ireland, at a cost of over euro500 million, and use of locally sourced sustainable materials is of particular importance
This article was originally published on Buildingtalk on 4 Jul 2008 at 8.00am (UK)
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The Limerick Tunnel Project is Phase II of the Limerick South Ring road project with an estimated completion date of 2010.
Tunnel construction began in August 2006 with the tunnel being the major element of the project, the immersed tube tunnel measuring 675m in length.
The tube will consist of two bores, one for southbound traffic and the other for northbound traffic.
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Each of the two bores comprises two lanes with emergency walkways on each side.
Capita Symonds design for the tunnel called for a completely flat timber platform on which the concrete formwork for the tunnel base would be constructed.
Precision was an essential requirement as with such exact engineering, deviation of even a few millimetres would cause problems.
After assessment and evaluation, German construction company Strabag International selected Waterford based and FSC certified OSB from manufacturer SmartPly over other panel product alternatives.
Their specification was tested and met with Capita Symonds approval.
Thousands of stainless steel screws protrude up through the 18mm SmartPly OSB3 to attach 15,000m2 of panels to the under-side of the concrete base elements of the tunnel where the structural SmartPly OSB3 takes the weight of the concrete during construction.
The tunnel is constructed in five Tunnel Units which will be floated out and sunk into a pre-dredged channel across the river.
The SmartPly OSB panels will be permanently beneath the tunnel elements on the river-bed once the tunnel units are completed and sunk in July 2008, where, with their unique task complete, the non-toxic panels will safely degrade over time.
Mr Uli Holt, commercial manager for Strabag says "In this tunnel base application, SmartPly OSB met all our needs in respect of both our quality and cost requirements".
"The structural capability of the product was vital".
"We have been impressed with SmartPly's technical performance and intend to use it again on our future projects".
Tunnel base timber sheathing for a major civil engineering project is just one of a wide range of construction and design applications for Irish manufactured SmartPly OSB - from timber frame construction to site hoarding, and from boarding up windows to robust modern architecture.
SmartPly OSB is part of Coillte Panel Products, a division of Coillte, the Irish Forestry Board.
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