Council accused of N59 ‘cover up’ in wake of road death

Council denies surface cover-up


Solicitor claims Council pulled out all the stops to surface dress N59 road

Anton McNulty

MAYO County Council has strenuously denied an accusation that they ‘pulled out all the stops’ to get the N59 near Mulranny surface dressed in an attempt to ‘mend their hand’ following the death of an Achill woman in 2004.
On the sixth day of the inquest into the death of 22-year-old Ashling Gallagher (pictured) from Achill, Mr Damien Tansey, solicitor for the Gallagher family, suggested that the Council’s reaction after the accident showed an anxiety on their part in relation to the surface on which the accident took place.
Ms Gallagher died instantly on December 22, 2004 when her Volkswagen Caddy van swerved into the path of an oncoming cement lorry along the N59 on a bend at Murrivaugh, Mulranny.
At the time of the accident, a 1.8km stretch of road had been resurfaced with a dense bitumen macadam (DBM) binder course which was described as a temporary surface. The Gallagher family claim that the DBM surface should not be opened to high speed traffic and that it contributed to the van losing grip on the wet surface.
However, Mayo County Council and the National Roads Authority deny this claiming the DBM surface provided sufficient skid resistance. The surface was laid in October of 2004 and Mayo County Council decided to postpone laying the final surface until the weather improved when the surface dressing season commenced in May.
In the interim the road was opened unimpeded to traffic with road marking painted on the road, which the inquest heard gave the impression of a completed road.
Mr Michael Lyons, Senior Executive Engineer with the Council told the inquest that following the accident tests were carried out in February to determine the skid resistance of the surface which he said showed it had a better skid resistance than the old surface.
However, during questioning by Mr Damien Tansey, Mr Lyons admitted that the Council tendered for the surfacing of the road in January and changed from a tar and chips surface to a more expensive hot rolled asphalt, which was applied in March.
Mr Tansey explained that the process of preparing a final surface had begun ‘as soon as the County Council offices opened after Christmas’ and this he claims showed an anxiety for the DBM surface among the Council executive.
“A great play has been put on the inability of Mayo County Council to surface dress the road after October 4 on the basis it was outside the surface dressing season. They poured enormous amount of money engaging  experts but before any results were available they sought about mending their hand by surface dressing the road as soon as ever possible. They pulled out all the stops to ensure the road was surface dressed with no consideration for the surface dressing season.
“Mayo County Council has sought to convince the jury that the surface on which Ashling Gallagher lost her life was appropriate and had the necessary skid resistance. Yet before a single result was in, they pulled out all the stops to get the tenders in in lightning speed to get the surface on the road,” he said.
Mayo County Council had explained that €40,000 had been put aside in the budget to surface dress the road but Mr Tansey said the final cost of the hot rolled asphalt was €124,000. He said that there was no doubt that what happened after the accident was related to the situation on the day of the accident.
However, Mr Aongus Ó Brolchain, SC for the Council objected to inferences made by Mr Tansey and said the resurfacing was an obvious reaction to a road death.
“We believe that the surface was quite appropriate to be open for traffic. Of course there was a reaction and it would be insane if there wasn’t a reaction. We carried out the tests on the road and then covered it over. Why is he going down this road?” asked Mr Ó Brolchain.
The coroner for south Mayo, Mr John O’Dwyer said he did not like the phrase used by Mr Tansey which he said implied there was wrongdoing. He said that implying blame was not in the remit of the inquest and the jury had to decide whether the surface was adequate for traffic on December 22, 2004.
Mr O’Dwyer also denied a request by Mr Tansey for a Council report written by Mr Lyons and a colleague following the accident to be produced because they were privileged.
During the previous five days of the inquest, the jury heard conflicting evidence from various road surface experts who either agreed the surface was not suitable for high speed traffic or that it was.
The inquest continues today (Tuesday) with Mr Pat Maher, Head of Network Operations with the NRA, expected to give evidence. A verdict is expected on either Tuesday or Wednesday.

Jury given hours of technical evidence during long-awaited Ashling Gallagher inquest

Road experts tell inquest road ‘not safe’
Tuesday

AN expert on road surfaces told day two of the inquest into the death of Ashling Gallagher last Tuesday that the road surface on which Ms Gallagher was driving did not provide the necessary skid resistance for the location.
Day two of the inquest into Ms Gallagher’s death on the N59 road near Mulranny heard evidence from two consultants from Atkins Transport Solutions who were commissioned by the Health and Safety Authority to carry out an independent review of the road where the accident occurred on December 22, 2004.
At the time the stretch of road had been resurfaced with Dense Bitumen Macadam (DBM) binder course, which was a temporary surface. The family of Ms Gallagher claim that the temporary road surface was not suitable for open traffic in an 100km/hr zone and that this resulted in the van going out of control.
Dr John Bullas, a Highway Research Consultant, said the surface did not satisfy the NRA standards for a permanent high speed road and the loss of wet skid resistance was ‘significant’.
At the time of the accident there were road markings on the temporary surface and Dr Bullas said that Mayo County Council’s failure to provide an approved road surface was ‘compounded by the appearance of final road markings which suggested the road was complete’.
Mayo County Council and the NRA accepted that the surface was temporary but denied that it was not suitable for traffic. Mr Aongus Ó Bronlchain, senior counsel for Mayo County Council, said that the bad weather prevented them from applying the final surface but this surface was used in this fashion.

Warning signs ‘taken down’ before crash
Wednesday

ROAD safety signs were taken away from the 1.8km stretch of Mulranny road after it had been laid with a temporary surface, the inquest heard on Wednesday.
Mr Niall O’Donavon explained that there were no warning signs alerting road users that a temporary road surface was in place and the dangers involved along the N59 outside Mulranny at the time of the accident.
Mr O’Donavon, who reviewed the signs and road markings at the time of the accident for Atkins Transport Solutions on behalf of the Health and Safety Authority, explained that the combination of the smooth DBM surface, the road markings and absence of warning signs gave the impression that the road was complete and the speed limit of 100km per hour applied.
Mr O’Donavan said that the road work signs were in place a week after the work was completed but the majority of the signs were removed at the time of the accident. He said there was no evidence to any signs indicating a temporary road surface, that the road was incomplete or to reduce speed at the time of the accident.
When it was put to him by Mr Aongus Ó BrolchΡin, SC for Mayo County Council, that there was no need for the warning signs on the road, Mr O’Donavan that DBM was not designed for traffic and as a result the traffic should be slowed down.
Under questions from Mr Damien Tansey, solicitor for the Gallagher family, he explained that following the accident a number of warning signs including a slippery surface sign, a reduce speed sign and flashing amber lights were put in place but still felt they were not adequate for vehicles travelling on a DBM surface.

Atkins report disputed by experts
Thursday

An expert on road surfaces said he was ‘flabbergasted’ to hear a report from his ex-colleague who told the inquest that the N59 outside Mulranny was not suitable for unimpeded traffic.
On day four of the inquest in Castlebar, evidence was heard by consultants commissioned by the NRA and Mayo County Council to review the DBM surface which contradicted the conclusions of the Atkins report.
Mr Peter Roe of the UK based Transport Research Laboratory (TRL), which researches the characteristics of road surfaces, explained that the DBM binder course on which Ashling Gallagher died was suitable for traffic and speeds upwards of 100km per hour.
Mr Roe said he disagreed with the findings of the Atkins report which claimed that traffic travelling along a DBM surface should only do so in a controlled manner and under 50km per hour.
The inquest heard that in 2007 TRL were commissioned by the NRA to report on DBM as a road surface and its characteristics. Mr Roe outlined that his results found that DBM had a high level of skid resistance in its early period of life and was suitable for high speed roads and unimpeded traffic for a period of time which depended on the level of traffic.
He explained that the DBM binder course is not used as a surface dressing because it deteriorates quicker depending on the level of traffic on the road. However he said that freshly laid DBM binder course had a comparable skid resistance to hot rolled asphalt which is a wearing surface and was an acceptable surface for traffic on the N59 in Mulranny, at the time of the accident.
Under questioning from Mr Damien Tansey, solicitor for the Gallagher family, Mr Roe denied he was trying to discredit Dr Bullas, who reported to Mr Roe when he worked for TRL. Mr Roe admitted that DBM binder course is not used as a temporary surface in the UK to which Mr Tansey replied, ‘it is not acceptable in the UK but acceptable for the Irish’.
Two other consultants who reviewed and tested the surface along the N59 for Mayo County Council agreed with Mr Roe that the surface had a sufficient skid resistance to carry unimpeded traffic.
The final witness on Thursday was Mr Joe O’Sullivan, an forensic engineer who said he disagreed with the Atkins report and agreed with both Mr Roe and Dr Feehan. He said that it did not matter that DBM binder course did not have a minimum polish stone value and was appropriate as an ‘interim’ surface.

Claims road was unable to discharge water
Friday

A SENIOR Engineer with Mayo County Council told the inquest on Friday that the temporary surface on which Ashling Gallagher lost control of her van was safer than the old surface it replaced.
Michael Lyons, a Senior Executive Engineer who designed the 1.8km stretch of road along the N59 said that following the tests on the road surface, he was ‘satisfied with the overall skid resistance of the DBM surface’.
However, the inquest also heard from Mick Quinn of Material Testing Services (MTS) who carried out a macro-texture test on the surface and found that it did not have sufficient capacity to discharge water and the chances of aquaplaning occurring increased as a result. The inquest had heard that the day of the accident had been a ‘nasty’ day with a number of showers.
He said the measurements taken on the N59 were below the satisfactory standards and agreed that signage warning of the potential hazards should have been put in place.
Under questioning from Mr John Jordan, BL for Mayo County Council, Mr Quinn said the longevity of the use of the surface was not relevant and that the DBM surface had less of a facility to deal with water than a permanent surface.
When asked about the results of the SCRIM test which appeared to suggest a good skid resistance Mr Quinn said he had difficulty accepting the validity of these tests because the degree of wetness used in these tests bore no relation to the amount of rain on the day.
Michael Lyons explained that a SCRIM test which was carried out on the old N59 surface before the road works was inferior to the new DBM surface and was satisfied it could be opened to high speed traffic.
“I consider the DBM surface to have a satisfactory skid resistance and the road works improved the structure of the pavement and created a better skid resistance,” he said.
He told the inquest that Roadstone Provinces started the road works on September 23, 2004 and the DBM binder course was completed on October 4, 2004. He explained that Mayo County Council were to complete the final layer of surface dressing of tar and chips but were unable to do so because of the weather.
Mr Lyons said that they decided to put down the road markings for health and safety reasons until they were able to lay the surface dressing when the weather improved. He said that in March 2005, they applied the surface dressing using hot rolled asphalt instead of tar and chips.
He added that Mayo County Council were responsible for the erection of warning signs and cones and said there were 150 cones on each side of the road at the time of the accident. This figure has been disputed with witnesses saying the number of cones was in the single figures.

Elsewhere on mayonews.ie
Accidental death verdict from Mulranny crash inquest