Nine bridges - over roads, railway and rivers; hundreds of thousands of tonnes of rock and gravel; 11 kilometres of fourlane highway, starting at Toomevara and ending on the Limerick road just before the Five Alley public house. . .the Nenagh bypass is rapidly taking shape.
A walk along its practically deserted length on a soft summer's day revealed a landscape soon to become public yet, at the same time, concealed. When the road opens to traffic late next year the borders of the bypass will become hidden from all but the birds and animals which will inhabit the embankments, cuttings and culverts which mark its construction.
The rock for the road, drawn from above Portroe by Kellys of Fantane and other hauliers, forms majestic sculptures. Massive earth-moving equipment bores, drills and gouges out a level path along which it will be safe to drive. The road mettle trucks move in steady and sedate progression along the unfinished highway as layer upon layer of gravel, hardcore and tarmacadam are laid down to construct the new pavement.
Melting tar
Metal pegs adorned with yellow painted markings, a pair of abandoned spectacles and the remains of a road worker's lunch indicate a nearly finished section of the road. In the distance the trucks discharge their cargo and move off to gather another load. Road-building vehicles, emitting steam and the sweet smell of melting tar carefully lay down the black stuff.
The operation, when complete, will reduce the journey time between Dublin and Limerick by another 10 to 20 minutes. For most N7 travellers the town of Nenagh will be taken off the map. It will join the bypassed and almost forgotten towns of Newbridge, Naas and Portlaoise, and only Kildare, Monasterevin and Mountrath will offer a welcome bottleneck to the traveller thirsty for some visual relief from motorway monotony.
The phenomenon of the bypass is changing the face of Ireland, directing the motorist away from the comforting sights of country towns and rural civilisation. The small-town hardware stores and pubs, cattle marts and furniture shops are being repossessed by locals. Advanced navigation skills are now required to find the exit ramp leading to what was once a favoured hotel. The adventure of the journey is being slowly surrendered to the imperative of the destination.
While new roads homogenise the countryside, an incomplete by-pass offers the trespassing walker a number of insights. Small groups of workers with powerful machines cut a swath through the land. Nothing obstructs their progress. Hillsides, valleys, ditches, streams, rivers, fields, farms and houses all give way to the road. On the unsettled roadside, wild flowers, docks, yellow rape and poppies enjoy an unexpected opportunity to flourish before the landscapers turn the verges into motorway gardens.
Tower and spire
Crossing the Thurles road, the by-pass affords a novel rearview of Nenagh. Tower and church spire dominate; the blue mass of the creamery landmarks the town on the right as the road descends towards its Limerick destination.
An elegant bridge carries the road over the Nenagh river. Newly constructed banks direct the water under sweeping concrete arches. Invisible from the road, the river's deep, dark pools disappear into the lush green Tipperary fields, passing Nenagh and onward to the Shannon. The logo of Coffey, the road's contractor, hangs proudly on the hidden architecture over which the traffic will pass.
Archaeologists
Moving over a railway spur, the bypass bisects an early-Christian metal-working site. Archaeologists are on their knees, scraping and marking the ancient remains. The outline of a hut marked out by a series of holes preserved in the clay, the scorched rocks of a fireplace, each tagged with a small flag, denote excavation on a different scale from that undertaken by the engineers of today. The site, one of a number on the route, is being recorded as part of the road-building programme. Once mapped the sites are subsumed in the road.
Straight line
Construction continues on two final bridges. Swaddled in scaffolding they stand isolated, waiting to be connected at either end to exit and entry ramps. The road passes underneath in a straight line.
ESB poles on massive concrete mounts mark the approach of the Limerick road. The intersection is taking shape, the poles outlining the sweep of the by-pass. The silence of the fields and the tranquillity of the incomplete road gives way to the noise of traffic - the sound-track for a new century along a stretch of countryside on this and other roads to the future.