2008:1231 - Gracedieu East, Waterford

Monitoring of the excavation of the foundations for a River Suir bridge crossing as part of the N25 Waterford city bypass scheme was completed in 2008. The bridge foundations were constructed on the southern (Gracedieu East townland, Co. Waterford) and northern (Granny townland, Co. Kilkenny) shorelines of the river. Nothing of archaeological significance was identified during a pre-construction side-sonar scan and caesium vapour magnetometer survey of the fast-flowing section of the river channel to be spanned by the bridge. The construction works on the southern shore involved the reduction of an area of alluvial estuarine muds and the introduction of a hardcore stone fill to create a working platform measuring c. 70m east–west by 20m wide. The exposed stratigraphy consisted of a relatively homogenous dark-grey estuarine clay that contained moderate inclusions of reeds and occasional pieces of non-archaeological wood, such as tree trunks, branches and twigs. This layer was still present at the maximum excavated depth of 5m below existing ground level and no archaeological features or artefacts were identified. The micro-pile bridge foundations were driven into the surface of the working platform and the excavation of the pile caps did not extend below the introduced hardcore stone fill. The construction methodology for the foundations on the northern riverbank also involved the creation of a working platform. The hardcore stone fill was deposited directly onto the rocky shoreline in this area and this did not involve any excavation works. The micro-pile foundations were driven into the working platform and the excavation of the pile caps did not extend below the introduced stone fill. No features or finds of archaeological significance were identified in the areas impacted by the bridge foundations.