Carrigrohane Straight - Surface

Surface

The original surface of Carrigrohane Straight was limestone. In 1927, the County Council and Corporation, who both controlled sections of the Straight, laid reinforced concrete. The Straight was one of the first concrete road surfaces in Ireland, or even Great Britain. In the early days, concrete surfaces were laid in slabs, with expansion joints of bitumen to take up expansion and contractions as the temperature affected them. The reinforced concrete consisted of a layer of mesh steel covered with concrete in sections approximately 20 to 30 feet (6.1 to 9.1 m) long, and several inches thick. Concrete was used because it was thought to be suitable for boggy ground. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, a number of concrete roads were constructed over bog in Northern Ireland, for example the Ballymena to Ballymoney road

The South of Ireland Asphalt Company (S.I.A.C.) was engaged in the surfacing of the Straight, and the concrete was hand laid. After the closure of the Muskerry Tram, the tracks were removed in 1935, and the area they occupied was then concreted, adding about 10 feet (3.0 m) to the width of the road. In recent years, Cork Corporation has covered this section with tar macadam, but the section outside the city still has the original concrete, and the extra width of concrete laid after the tram tracks were removed. This can be seen on the south side of the road.