N8 Rathcormac/Fermoy Bypass

Fermoy, County Cork, Ireland.

17 km of dual motorway national primary road on the main Dublin to Cork route with hard tolls and a 30 year concession period for operation and maintenance.

Public Private Partnership DBFO.

Bespoke based on Highways Agency model.

Client:

National Roads Authority (NRA)

Consultants:

Babtie Group Ltd – Technical and Procurement Advisers to NRA

KPMG  - Financial Advisers

McCann Fitzgerald and Freshfields Bruckaus  - Legal Advisers

Parkman CarlBro Punch – Project Consultants to Cork County Council

Direct Route Consortium (Lagan Ltd, Roadbridge, Sisk, and Strabag AG)

Key dates (inception/completion):
2000 – commencement of design/Contract awarded 10 June 2004.

Project lifecycle milestones:
Route selection studies were completed before 1995 when a preferred option was presented to the public for wider consultation. Design commenced early in 2000. Statutory Approvals granted 2002. Prequalification of consortia carried out in last quarter of 2001. Tender complete end of 2002. BAFO complete end of 2003. Contract award June 2004. Expected completion and opening of road June 2007.

Project value:
171 million Euros capital construction cost.

Introduction/background:
This road scheme forms part of the overall upgrading of the route between Dublin and Cork and is part of the National Roads Authority’s PPP roads programme. This roads programme is borne out of Ireland’s National Development Plan to improve the country’s major infrastructure and in particular to improve road safety and reduce journey times between Ireland’s major population centres.

Description/statement of issues:
The new road is intended to be motorway standard constructed off line from the existing N8 commencing at Watergrasshill at the south end to Moorepark 17 km to the north east. It bypasses the towns of Fermoy and Rathcormac. The road will be tolled with a toll plaza on the mainline at Condonstown near the north end and toll plazas on the ramps at one of the main interchanges. The scheme is part of the Irish National Road Authority’s PPP roads programme. There are 18 major structures on the route, one of which is the Blackwater Valley Crossing viaduct, a 450 metre long 8 span viaduct crossing a special area of conservation. This structure will be a push launch pre-stressed box girder with a slender span to depth ratio and a curved soffit profile as a result of significant aesthetic considerations. Temporary works placed in the river are not permitted as a result of the environmental status of the valley. The PPP model used on the first two schemes was continued for this scheme. Tenderers bid for construction and operation payments within certain imposed constraints and based on their estimate of costs of construction and operation balanced against revenues from the tolls and an opportunity to propose revenue sharing with the NRA. The tenderers’ financial models are evaluated against a set of predetermined traffic forecasts to calculate a net present value of their bid combined with quantification of the value of any risks transferred back through contract amendments.

Design, development, decision-making processes:
The existing N8 road geometry is generally substandard with a significant number of frontage accesses. The alignment through the town of Fermoy is particularly poor and causing significant delays to through traffic. The need for a new road was identified as part of the overall improvement to the N8 between Dublin and Cork. Three alternative route corridors were considered. The preferred route was selected on the basis of the most cost-effective solution with the least impact on the visual and landscape character. In particular the sensitivity of the Blackwater Valley was a major consideration. The preferred route was developed into a specimen design for issue to tenderers for further development. There was a consultation process during the tender period to allow tenderers to develop their conceptual designs which were reviewed against the technical requirements for compliance. Detailed design is carried out by the successful tenderer under a self certification procedure which is reviewed and monitored by the Authority’s Representative.

Performance assessment:
The procurement procedure has followed a model established and developed in the first two schemes to be procured under the PPP programme. It has taken slightly longer to close the deal than the previous schemes partly as a result of the need to carry out a tiebreak evaluation to separate the two shortlisted tenderers and select a preferred bidder for the final stage. However following selection of the preferred bidder, the timescale to close the deal was comparable to the previous schemes. The project team performed well and provided added value to the project through close working.

Summary of benefits (for client, project team and users?):

The third successfully awarded contract in Ireland’s PPP roads programme.

The project team worked successfully together to bring about the award of the contract. Each member benefited from a broadening of their experience in the procurement of a PPP project.

Reduction in journey time between Ireland’s two major cities, Dublin and Cork forming part of the overall upgrade of this N8 route. The NRA’s overall objective is to achieve an average inter-urban speed of 96 kph on completion of its current programme. Improvement in standard of road making for improved safety and reduction in accidents and delays.

Key lessons learned:
The requirements for the Blackwater Viaduct were originally particularly prescriptive in terms of its structural form with the shallow curved deck structure profile. This was done to achieve particular aesthetic requirements. Tenderers asked for the requirements to be relaxed to enable a more economic structural form to be used. This was ultimately allowed but subjected to a further aesthetic review to ensure that this aspect was not compromised. Whilst the level of prescription of requirements is minimised to ensure that the benefits of PPP through innovation by the private sector is not compromised, further scope for facilitating this process was available on this scheme.

Next steps:
The contract has been awarded and the next steps will be to monitor the construction phase.

Project team:
Babtie Group Ltd.

Contact name/telephone no.:
Alan Seywright: +44 (0)131 556 9777.