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Gillogue road repairs cost less than €30,000


Clare County Council insists resurfacing works near the entrance of a new car park at Gilllogue cost less than €30,000 and not its initial budget estimate of €55,000 in the 2013 Roadworks Programme.
Residents had questioned the decision of the council to hire a sub-contractor, who used what they described as top-of-the-range grade-one tarmacadam on a small stretch of road past the entrance to the new car park.

While residents support the road improvements, they believe the council could have saved a substantial sum of money by using tar and chip of much lesser quality and use the remainder of the money to improve Larkin’s Cross.

According to an estimate from a private engineer, it could cost between €15,000 and €20,000 to provide tar and chip of lesser quality for 100m.

Killaloe Electoral Area engineer Hugh McGrath pointed out the cost of roadworks at Gillogue was under €30,000 in the past month, a substantial reduction on the initial proposal for €55,000, which was subject to a cost reduction due to reduced funding in February.

“The final engineering decision on pavement design is made by this office based on value engineering for the relevant location. The design includes numerous criteria including heavy goods vehicle movements and volume of turning vehicles.

“The council are obliged to adhere to national and European Union legislation in awarding contracts. The main contract works were carried out by Lagan Asphalt, based in O’Callaghan’s Mills,” he said.

Councillor Michael Begley pointed out, in some cases, it is more cost effective for the council to use top-of-the-range tarmacadam on a local road if the surface is breaking up on a regular basis, to eliminate the need to keep filling re-occurring potholes.

He noted the Derryfadda Road, which links up with the Gillogue Road at the nearby junction, is a very popular route that carries large volumes of traffic, thus requiring a good quality surface.

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