Sisk among potential bidders for €200m tender for service tunnel

A JOINT venture between construction groups Sisk and Lagan is understood to be among the potential bidders for a €200m tender to construct a major new service tunnel at Dublin Airport.

The two firms have already worked together on projects at the airport.

Sisk, which operates out of the Naas Road, Clondalkin, and numerous sites across Ireland and the UK, has worked on projects including the Mater Hospital Pearse Street Station and TU Dublin Grangegorman campus.

An Bord Pleanála has yet to make a decision on whether construction of the new service tunnel can proceed after Ryanair appealed against planning permission for the infrastructure early last year.

The project – which includes a 700m tunnel as part of a 1.1km link – is being built to improve the safety and efficiency of the airfield.

Ryanair objected to the project and claimed it was a waste of money.

However, the DAA has insisted the tunnel forms a vital part of its €2bn capital investment programme.

The project will involve the construction of a tunnel with two lanes under Dublin Airport’s 16/34 runway. That is a secondary runway at the airport and is used when crosswinds affect flights on its main runways.

The tunnel will enable as many as 3,500 trips every day by airport vehicles, which will shuttle between Terminal One and new aircraft stands that are planned at the airport. It will be used by vehicles such as cargo transporters, fuel trucks and catering trucks.