Dublin City Council yesterday rejected reports that work had been halted on the Dublin Port Tunnel due to subsidence caused by digging under the railway line at Fairview.
The Port Tunnel project engineer, Mr Tim Brick, said that while difficulties were encountered with preparatory work it was carrying out under the railway, "it did not threaten rail services, was not part of the main tunnel work, and at no stage was work on the tunnel halted".
Mr Brick described the work which was suspended as being "only one of 1,001 tasks" associated with the Dublin Port Tunnel. It involved the creation of a frame under a steel canopy supporting the railway. The frame was being put in place before digging under the line began, he said.
According to Mr Brick, two 1.6- metre steel pipes had been drilled through the railway embankment to support the line and a doorframe was being put in place beneath that prior to digging. Once the door-frame was in place, supports would have been placed under the feet of the frame, but aspects of the frame recorded "distress" and it was decided to suspend the work.
He insisted that the 1.6-metre steel pipes were holding the railway at all times and subsidence would therefore only have affected the frame, if at all. Construction of the tunnel was not halted due to the difficulties. The project office had been in touch with Iarnród Éireann about the work for about 18 months.
Mr Barry Kenny, a spokesman for Iarnród Éireann, said the company was happy that at no stage was the line under threat. "If we were concerned at any stage about the safety to the passengers we would have closed the line. We did not have to go looking for information on this and were kept informed by the project office all the way," he said.
Mr Kenny added that work will not resume until Iarnród Éireann and Port Tunnel engineers had satisfied themselves of the security of the frame.
The Dublin Port Tunnel Office said it carried out constant monitoring on the proposed underpass of the railway.