Our Journey with Irish Rail

Two Decades and Counting of Delivering Comprehensive Geospatial Services

For 25 years, Murphy Geospatial, a Woolpert Company, has been a foremost contractor for Iarnród Éireann-Irish Rail — the national railway operator in the Republic of Ireland. Throughout this long-standing relationship, Murphy Geospatial has consistently provided comprehensive geospatial services, effectively combining traditional surveying expertise with cutting-edge technology.

These services have enabled Irish Rail to gain detailed insights into its assets, empowering the organization to strengthen its expansive rail network for the future. In 2025, Irish Rail recognized Murphy Geospatial’s first-class support by honoring the firm with its CCE (Chief Civil Engineer) Continuous Improvement Day Award for “Contractor of the Year.”

25

year-long relationship

2000 km

rail captured, monitored, and digitized

Over 1,500

bridge inspections

The Story So Far: How it Started, and Where Technology is Taking it

In the late 2010s, the scope and variety of Murphy Geospatial’s work with Irish Rail had not yet evolved into what it is today, with the firm primarily carrying out topographical surveys. However, the collapse of the rail bridge at the Malahide Estuary in Dublin, Ireland, changed everything, acting as the catalyst that moved the firm into more specialized asset inspection services.

On August 21, 2009, a 20-meter section of the viaduct across the Malahide Estuary on the main Belfast–Dublin train line collapsed when one of the piers supporting the viaduct gave way, causing two spans to slip into the estuary below. Just before the failure, a train had crossed the bridge, and its driver sensed that something was not right. Looking back, he confirmed his suspicions as he saw the rail bridge plummet into the estuary waters. His train had narrowly avoided a major disaster. Among the various contractors Irish Rail called in for assistance was Murphy Geospatial, which played an integral role in determining the cause and supporting remediation measures.

In the years following the bridge collapse, the relationship between Murphy Geospatial and Irish Rail has continued to grow, with the firm’s service portfolio gradually expanding to encompass the full spectrum of the company’s geospatial solutions, including:

Comprehensive Survey Solutions — Terrestrial and Aerial
Railway Bridge and Culvert Inspections
Digital Engineering Innovation (Lidar, Building Information Modeling, and Virtual Tours)
Subsurface Engineering
Geodetic Monitoring
Advanced Data Management

Murphy Geospatial has continually refined its methodology and approach throughout its engagement with Irish Rail, integrating the latest technologies, such as artificial intelligence and unmanned aerial vehicles, to capture the most valuable information possible and support the asset owner’s digital transformation.

How the Woolpert Acquisition Benefits Irish Rail

By joining Woolpert in 2025, Murphy Geospatial gained access to additional resources and experienced professionals, bringing greater value to Irish Rail.

Woolpert’s multifaceted transit team provides industry-leading architecture, engineering, and geospatial expertise. Its geospatial services, in particular, are of considerable value to Murphy Geospatial as they bolster railway infrastructure operators’ efforts to provide safe infrastructure for the operation of trains. Woolpert’s geospatial services include:

3D Laser Scanning
Aerial LiDAR
Code Compliance Surveys
Mobile Mapping
Property and Right-of-Way Surveys
Surveying
Topographic Mapping
Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS)
Unmanned Site Monitoring

Other key advantages for Murphy Geospatial include access to Woolpert’s geospatial AI expertise. For example, Woolpert, Atlas Labs, and Murphy Geospatial collaborated on an AI-enabled habitat classification project in which orthophotography was used as input for an AI-trained algorithm to identify ecological habitats. A training dataset was prepared along a five‑kilometer section of railway, and the algorithm was then applied to a 10‑km section, producing excellent results.

Key Projects and Services Spotlight

Over the 25-year relationship between Murphy Geospatial and Irish Rail, the firm has delivered several projects of historic significance across Ireland.

National Tree Survey and Analysis

In July 2025, prompted by a need to understand the extent of ash dieback disease along its network, Murphy Geospatial secured the largest UAV project ever undertaken in Ireland: mapping all the trees along the full length of Irish Rail’s network. Murphy Geospatial’s Survey and UAV teams successfully captured 2,000 km of imagery, video, and lidar to generate data for the analytics phase of the project.

The capture phase needed to be completed before the leaves fell from the trees, as this would have made it more challenging to identify different species. Despite the tight deadline, Murphy Geospatial completed this phase to the client’s high satisfaction. In total, six UAV teams were mobilized to carry out the data capture.

Staff from Murphy Geospatial’s GIS department extracted tree species and key parameter data to help Irish Rail identify the risk of each tree to the operation of trains on its network. This flagship project was delivered along with project partners Veon — responsible for ground truthing to validate the tree analysis — and AAT, the analytics lead, to deliver the project’s analytics phase.

Scan to BIM of Iconic Kent and Heuston Stations

Irish Rail commissioned a full 3D laser scan and digital capture of Kent Station in Cork City and Heuston Station in Dublin City. Murphy Geospatial’s digital engineering team utilized multiple services — such as 3D laser scanning, BIM, control networks, and digital twins — to produce a highly detailed Revit model of both stations, comprising the platforms, public concourse, administration offices, basements, tunnels, and remarkable roof structures.

The final datasets and 3D models provided a comprehensive digital record of these iconic and historical buildings, enabling Irish Rail to manage and maintain their vital transport hubs more efficiently. In particular, the geospatial data equipped the asset owner with the information needed to optimize space, maintain compliance with health and safety requirements, and support futureproofing through data-informed energy retrofitting. This data will also be used during the design and construction stages of upcoming refurbishment projects.

It is worth noting that the railway stations are busy public buildings with fully functioning car parks, bus bays, and taxi ranks. The constant movement of trains, vehicles, and people required the Murphy Geospatial team to liaise daily with station management to prevent disruption to staff or the public. Thanks to this coordination, no public or private areas needed to be closed, allowing the stations to continue operating as normal.

Bridge Monitoring at Collapsed Rail Bridge at Malahide Estuary

When a 20-meter section of the viaduct across the Malahide Estuary on the main Belfast–Dublin train line collapsed and fell into the water below, Irish Rail called in an emergency response survey team. Murphy Geospatial arrived on site less than 24 hours after the incident to conduct hydrographic and topographical land surveys to determine the cause of the accident, prevent a recurrence, and support designers and engineers in developing the replacement structure.

During the bridge replacement contract, and to address the unique conditions of the site, Murphy Geospatial, in collaboration with Geodata, developed bespoke seawater-resistant tilt sensors and cables for underwater installation. All data was transmitted in real time via wireless connection from each sensor to Murphy Geospatial’s central monitoring observation point. This real-time monitoring data was then used to produce daily reports that supported reconstruction efforts.

Wisely, Murphy Geospatial and Irish Rail established tolerance parameters so that each monitoring system would trigger an alarm if readings exceeded acceptable limits. At one point, vibrations from heavy-duty machinery used during reconstruction surpassed safety thresholds.

Ultimately, long-term monitoring of the structure enabled Murphy Geospatial to identify seasonal influences on the bridge, insights that were incorporated into future planning to help prevent similar incidents.

Railway Bridge Inspections

In the years following the Malahide Viaduct collapse, Irish Rail developed a risk-based framework to inspect all its bridges over watercourses for scour.

Over the past decade, the firm has completed more than 1,500 bridge inspections. Of Irish Rail’s many bridges, more than 500 span waterways. In many cases, Murphy Geospatial has employed commercial dive teams to inspect deeper structural elements. The firm has also established efficient workflows for riverbed-level surveys and submerged structural assessments to identify defects of concern. Being part of a long-standing relationship has provided opportunities to work in collaboration with Irish Rail’s engineering staff to innovate as new technologies have emerged.

In addition to bridge scour inspections, Murphy Geospatial has carried out over 50 specialist roped access inspections, including inspections of iconic 150-year-old bridge structures and tunnel ventilation shafts.

The data collected through these inspections has significantly supported Irish Rail’s asset management operations. This history of meticulous inspections demonstrates Murphy Geospatial’s commitment to railway safety and infrastructure integrity.

“Murphy Geospatial are the worthy winners of our Contractor of the Year Award for 2025. Central to this success has been the combining of innovation and technical excellence with a genuinely collaborative approach across a broad range of services provided to Iarnród Éireann Irish Rail. This collaboration has been central to our core objective of safe and reliable provision of railway infrastructure for the operation of our services. Congratulations to all at Murphy Geospatial on this well-deserved award.”

–Cathal Mangan, Chief Civil Engineer for Iarnród Éireann Irish Rail

Reach out today to learn how Woolpert’s multidisciplinary capabilities can help address your transportation needs.

Paraic Quirke PhD BE(Civil) CEng MIEI

Head of Infrastructure and Natural Environment

T: +353 45 484 040
M: +353 86 467 1761
[email protected]