The Limerick Tunnel under the River Shannon in Ireland will open to traffic at the end of June. Construction work on the tunnel, which cost more than EUR 500M (USD 612.7M), began in August 2006. The tunnel is one of the largest projects undertaken in the western region of Ireland.
The project involves the construction of approximately 10km of new dual carriageway, along with associated link roads and side roads. The tunnel is the fourth crossing of the River Shannon in the environs of Limerick City.
The crossing involves a roughly 900m immersed tube tunnel, linking the townland of Coonagh, on the northern bank, with the townland of Bunlicky on the southern bank of the Shannon.
The work is being carried out by a Strabag/John Sisk & Son/Lagan Holdings/Roadbridge joint venture. Dutch company Van Oord carried out dredging work for the tunnel trench. Another Dutch company, Mergor, carried out the immersion process of floating the tunnel elements out into the Shannon.
