Underpasses are becoming much more in vogue of late, with the TAMS aid for them being one of the contributing factors.
From a safety point of view, there is nothing to compare to them, which was one of the real deciding factors for Tommie Sr and Tommie Jr Devine from Frenchpark, Co Roscommon when choosing to install one in spring of this year.
The father-son duo converted from drystock to dairying in 2020, with 70 crossbred heifers initially purchased. The herd now stands at 170 high EBI Kiwi-crosses, with plans to go on to 200 cows maximum.
Tommie’s fiancée Jen, 2IC Aaron Greene and youngstock manager PJ Flynn are intrinsic to the smooth running of the farm, as is Tommie’s mother Sinead Devine, who keeps account of all things financial.
To facilitate the expansion in numbers, the milking block had to expand as well, with the farm focusing heavily on grass and milk solids.
''It's been a game changer for us, making cow management much easier and safer'' stated Tommie Jnr.
Land across from the main milking block was purchased around two years ago, unlocking over 100 acres of additional land, being a mixture of grazing and silage ground.
“The reality is that it takes at least two, if not three, people to move the cows, and we can often hit peak traffic time when we are moving cows.
“Cows would be crossing back after milking at around 8.30am and 5pm, which sees a lot of working people and parents dropping kids off to school on the road at that time,’’ explained Tommie Jr.
“The grant (TAMS) was the real push point, but in reality, we would have had to do it anyway,” he stated.
Planning and road breaking
Planning permission was applied for back in October 2022 with the intention of completing the work at the backend of 2023. However, several factors pushed the start date to early 2025, with work commencing as the farm was in the peak of spring calving.
Construction began on January 31 this year, with each side of the road dug out ahead of the road closure.
From having completed trial holes and engineer’s reports, the Devines knew that rock would become an issue when it came to digging out for the culverts, but the issue became a larger problem than initially thought.
Box culverts and wing walls being installed back in February 2025 for the Devine underpass.
With a 20-tonne machine and a 38-tonne machine with rock breakers on them failing to make a dent in the sheer rock, heavier equipment had to be called in.
There are only four 50-tonne machines with rock breakers in the country, and having priced one of them to come from Cork at €3,500 haulage costs each way, the Devines had to go back to the drawing board.
Luckily for them, one of the remaining three diggers in the country was working on the nearby Frenchpark to Strokestown bypass, and the Devines managed to secure its services for breaking out the rock directly under the road.
Culverts and finishing
Croom Concrete were one of the main contractors involved in the build, supplying and fitting all the box culverts and wing walls, as required.
And Shane Naughton Agri were subbed in to complete the preparation work.
The road closure allowed for 10 days to complete the work and have the road re-opened, with the work being completed and road retarred and opened in six days.
Having no services passing through the section where the underpass was to go was an aid to this.
A total of nine culverts were used, each measuring 2m in length, 3.5m in width and 2.1m in height. Wing walls were also installed by Croom Concrete, as well as the two precast concrete tanks for soiled water collection.
The culverts measure 3.5m in width, with an internal height of 2m which includes the 100mm subfloor poured after installation.
All of the installation work was completed in one day due to good preparation and planning, which minimised the spend on crane hire.
Mattie Dwyer, a local of Frenchpark, completes much of Croom Concrete’s joint sealing for culverts throughout the country, so a short commute was in order for him.
Ducting was also incorporated into the works to allow for power or water to be transferred.
Once the culverts were sealed and backfilled and the road retarred, contractor Dermot Dooney took on the remainder of the work, installing drainage pipes connected to the two precast tanks that were installed earlier.
Concrete ramps were poured, with a gentle camber into the underpass for good cow flow, with a 100mm floor also poured within the culverts themselves.
Retaining walls were also poured out from the wing walls, while Dermot himself skilfully built the dry stone wall work around the culvert entrances.
Finally, Dermot fenced around the area using concrete stakes and no-climb horse netting for safety.
As it stands, the length of the underpass, with a buffer area of close to 5m either side of the main road before the drop-off, makes it as safe as possible for cars.
Cost
Costs are listed in Table 1. Several different reports had to be compiled before and after completion of the job, with Noreen McLoughlin completing the NIS report, Will Rudd completing the structural report and Deane Associates completing the site survey, planning application and drawings.
Croom Concrete’s costs include digging out, supplying and fitting the culverts, as well as the backfilling, tarring and reopening of the road, while Dermot Dooney’s costs include all concrete and labour supplied.
All these costs totalled together come to €188,100 + VAT, or €10,450+ VAT/linear metre.
In comparison, the departmental reference costs for the above would be €90,000+ VAT, or €5,000/linear metre.
The works were completed to a high standard and followed Department specifications, and while the additional rock breaking did add some costs, the above show just how out of kilter reference costs can be.
Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal, Tommie Jr stated: ‘’It’s been a game changer for us. There were days when we were tight on grass in March that we could turn cows out into a paddock across the road and leave the latch open for them to come inside for silage after three hours.
“If we hadn’t the underpass, we would be gathering them in the middle of the day, holding cows after milking to cross them over – it was just a pain.
‘’All the contractors involved were top notch, especially Croom Concrete, Shane Naughton and Dermot Dooney.
“Roscommon County Council and their engineers were also very helpful along the way, and I couldn’t thank them enough. The neighbours and road users were also very patient, as was our neighbour Gerry Coogan, who allowed us park machinery and the culverts before installation in his yard.
Underpasses are becoming much more in vogue of late, with the TAMS aid for them being one of the contributing factors.
From a safety point of view, there is nothing to compare to them, which was one of the real deciding factors for Tommie Sr and Tommie Jr Devine from Frenchpark, Co Roscommon when choosing to install one in spring of this year.
The father-son duo converted from drystock to dairying in 2020, with 70 crossbred heifers initially purchased. The herd now stands at 170 high EBI Kiwi-crosses, with plans to go on to 200 cows maximum.
Tommie’s fiancée Jen, 2IC Aaron Greene and youngstock manager PJ Flynn are intrinsic to the smooth running of the farm, as is Tommie’s mother Sinead Devine, who keeps account of all things financial.
To facilitate the expansion in numbers, the milking block had to expand as well, with the farm focusing heavily on grass and milk solids.
''It's been a game changer for us, making cow management much easier and safer'' stated Tommie Jnr.
Land across from the main milking block was purchased around two years ago, unlocking over 100 acres of additional land, being a mixture of grazing and silage ground.
“The reality is that it takes at least two, if not three, people to move the cows, and we can often hit peak traffic time when we are moving cows.
“Cows would be crossing back after milking at around 8.30am and 5pm, which sees a lot of working people and parents dropping kids off to school on the road at that time,’’ explained Tommie Jr.
“The grant (TAMS) was the real push point, but in reality, we would have had to do it anyway,” he stated.
Planning and road breaking
Planning permission was applied for back in October 2022 with the intention of completing the work at the backend of 2023. However, several factors pushed the start date to early 2025, with work commencing as the farm was in the peak of spring calving.
Construction began on January 31 this year, with each side of the road dug out ahead of the road closure.
From having completed trial holes and engineer’s reports, the Devines knew that rock would become an issue when it came to digging out for the culverts, but the issue became a larger problem than initially thought.
Box culverts and wing walls being installed back in February 2025 for the Devine underpass.
With a 20-tonne machine and a 38-tonne machine with rock breakers on them failing to make a dent in the sheer rock, heavier equipment had to be called in.
There are only four 50-tonne machines with rock breakers in the country, and having priced one of them to come from Cork at €3,500 haulage costs each way, the Devines had to go back to the drawing board.
Luckily for them, one of the remaining three diggers in the country was working on the nearby Frenchpark to Strokestown bypass, and the Devines managed to secure its services for breaking out the rock directly under the road.
Culverts and finishing
Croom Concrete were one of the main contractors involved in the build, supplying and fitting all the box culverts and wing walls, as required.
And Shane Naughton Agri were subbed in to complete the preparation work.
The road closure allowed for 10 days to complete the work and have the road re-opened, with the work being completed and road retarred and opened in six days.
Having no services passing through the section where the underpass was to go was an aid to this.
A total of nine culverts were used, each measuring 2m in length, 3.5m in width and 2.1m in height. Wing walls were also installed by Croom Concrete, as well as the two precast concrete tanks for soiled water collection.
The culverts measure 3.5m in width, with an internal height of 2m which includes the 100mm subfloor poured after installation.
All of the installation work was completed in one day due to good preparation and planning, which minimised the spend on crane hire.
Mattie Dwyer, a local of Frenchpark, completes much of Croom Concrete’s joint sealing for culverts throughout the country, so a short commute was in order for him.
Ducting was also incorporated into the works to allow for power or water to be transferred.
Once the culverts were sealed and backfilled and the road retarred, contractor Dermot Dooney took on the remainder of the work, installing drainage pipes connected to the two precast tanks that were installed earlier.
Concrete ramps were poured, with a gentle camber into the underpass for good cow flow, with a 100mm floor also poured within the culverts themselves.
Retaining walls were also poured out from the wing walls, while Dermot himself skilfully built the dry stone wall work around the culvert entrances.
Finally, Dermot fenced around the area using concrete stakes and no-climb horse netting for safety.
As it stands, the length of the underpass, with a buffer area of close to 5m either side of the main road before the drop-off, makes it as safe as possible for cars.
Cost
Costs are listed in Table 1. Several different reports had to be compiled before and after completion of the job, with Noreen McLoughlin completing the NIS report, Will Rudd completing the structural report and Deane Associates completing the site survey, planning application and drawings.
Croom Concrete’s costs include digging out, supplying and fitting the culverts, as well as the backfilling, tarring and reopening of the road, while Dermot Dooney’s costs include all concrete and labour supplied.
All these costs totalled together come to €188,100 + VAT, or €10,450+ VAT/linear metre.
In comparison, the departmental reference costs for the above would be €90,000+ VAT, or €5,000/linear metre.
The works were completed to a high standard and followed Department specifications, and while the additional rock breaking did add some costs, the above show just how out of kilter reference costs can be.
Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal, Tommie Jr stated: ‘’It’s been a game changer for us. There were days when we were tight on grass in March that we could turn cows out into a paddock across the road and leave the latch open for them to come inside for silage after three hours.
“If we hadn’t the underpass, we would be gathering them in the middle of the day, holding cows after milking to cross them over – it was just a pain.
‘’All the contractors involved were top notch, especially Croom Concrete, Shane Naughton and Dermot Dooney.
“Roscommon County Council and their engineers were also very helpful along the way, and I couldn’t thank them enough. The neighbours and road users were also very patient, as was our neighbour Gerry Coogan, who allowed us park machinery and the culverts before installation in his yard.
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