Lough Boora Visitor Centre & Car Park

This project involved the Design & Build of a Visitor Centre Building and Car Park Facilities  at Lough Boora Discovery Park, Leabeg, Tullamore, Co. Offaly. The aim of the development was to create a central focal point for the various tourist attractions at Lough Boora. The Clients of this contract were Bord na Móna and Bord Fáilte Ireland.

The key challenges involved in this development included the very poor ground conditions as the site was located on peat boglands and adjacent a lake. Some of the key design goals of the project that had to be incorporated into the development included being conscious of the local environment and constructing a building which would complement the Natural Landscape and Wildlife in the area as well as creating a sustainable and environmentally friendly facility. This was accomplished by using natural construction materials and the installation of renewable energy systems, this combined with the construction of a sustainable waste water treatment system provided an eco-friendly development which characterised the ethos of the Discovery Park itself.

The Building itself made use of numerous aspects of construction technologies including Pre-cast Concrete and  Larch Timber Piled Foundations, In-situ reinforced concrete groundbeams & Pile Caps, pre-cast concrete floor slabs, Timber frame Building Structure, Paralon Warm Roof with Sedum Mix Green Roof, Zinc Clad Canopy, Photovoltaic Solar Panel Energy System, Cedar Cladding Building Façade, Air Tightness and high grade thermal insulation, Zero Discharge Willow Bed Wastewater Treatment System, Foul Sewer Septic Tank, Pump Chamber and submersible pumping system, larch timber decking and handrailing, Mechanical and Electrical building Fit-out and high grade internal finishes as well as external ducting, watermain and services installation.

The Project also included the construction of a 126 space car park, 5 space Bus Park and extensive landscaping Works as well as construction of 9 nr, picnic areas, various footpaths and cycle tracks, wetland lake construction with timber pedestrian bridge and timber knee railing and fencing Works. A blockwork bicycle rental building with Cedar Cladding Façade to tie in with main visitor  building was also constructed as part of the development.

For more information on Lough Boora Discovery Park please follow the link below:

http://www.loughboora.com/plan-your-visit/visitor-information/facilities/

Ballinasloe Flood Defence Scheme, Co. Galway

This project consisted of a flood defence barrier approx 1.4 km long protecting over 100 households in the Ballinasloe area. The works involved construction of a reinforced concrete flood defense wall consisting of the installation of steel sheet piles using Movax piling hammer with welded joints & a 600m reinforced concrete pile cap. The remainder of the flood defence barrier was achieved with the construction of an 800m impermeable clay bund. The project included installation of aluminium flood gates & controlled pen-stocks in existing and new chambers, construction of culverts and head walls, construction of drainage system to rear of flood barrier with over pump chambers as well as the construction of V ditches and cleaning of existing field drains in the surrounding area.

 

Sheetpiling at Foxford, Co Mayo

Upon inspections by Irish Rail, significant subsidence of a railway embankment near Foxford was discovered.

Remedial works were required to stabilise the railway line, consisting of a sheetpiled wall for 160 metres on both sides of the railway line. The approved piles were imported from Asia in 16 number containers into Dublin Port and hauled by road to Foxford Station.  The contract was completed entirely with the company’s own plant and resources. The main equipment consisted of a piling rig compromising of a Movax SPE 50 piling hammer fitted on a Case CX210 25 tonne tracked excavator, specially fitted with rubber tracks for railway work. The piles were hauled to the remote site location  using two atlas 1504 rubber ducks with rail wheels and tilt rotating encon hitch & McCabe grab towing two 5m x 20TN rail trailers. The piles were loaded at Foxford station by a Case CX160B excavator fitted with rotating grab.  The piles were driven to depths of between 7 metres and 13 metres  The piles were supported with a waler beam on both sides and tied across using 40mm threaded bars at 4.5 metre centers. The works were carried out at night during TIII possessions with the railline remaining operational each day for passengers and freight traffic.

Please follow link below to see Movax Piling Hammer in action on Ballinasloe Flood Defence project:

https://www.conneelybuilders.com/video-gallery/?catid=cat1&slg=movax-piling-hammer-ballinasloe-flood-defence

Spencer Dock Platform Works

Construction of Platforms and access stairs from existing roads at new Dockland’s Rail Station. The station was designed of elements that would permit the station to be moved from its current temporary location to its permanent location at a future date. There were many elements to this project such as vibrocompaction to the existing ground to increase bearing capacity for foundations of platform precast units each weighing 27tonne. It involved the piling of all foundations to support ground beams and main building portal frame. Construction of buffer stops, installation of pumping station, surface water attenuation system, associated drainage and services at Spencer Dock, Dublin 1.