Delivered services
Civil Engineering, Structural Engineering
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
Coláiste Chú Chulainn is deemed to be an essential piece of infrastructure for Dundalk and its environs and planning permission for the new school was fast-tracked through the statutory planning stages in accordance with Part 8, Article 81 of the Planning & Development Regulations 2001 (as amended). As part of the development, the LMETB constructed a public park just outside the school, which blends well with the adjoining pedestrian and cycle-friendly road networks. The North wing of the campus comes complete with six new Science rooms, a suite of Design, Engineering and Material Technology rooms, two modern Art rooms, an up-to-the-minute Gym and six sports courts.
PROJECT COMPLEXITIES
With an address of “The Marshes”, Dundalk one might expect variable ground conditions across the site and so it proved. The soils on site are not suitable for the construction of soakaways for surface water runoff so a large volume of attenuation storage was required. The soft landscape was engineered to provide stable and trafficable surfaces. The site was partly greenfield and partly brownfield where hydrocarbon contamination of the soils exceeded acceptable limits with works required to address this. A 1,000-pupil school has the potential to create significant traffic congestion in the vicinity of the school site. A Mobility Management Plan was prepared to outline measures, which, if implemented will promote healthier and more environmentally sensitive alternatives to car travel. In addition, by minimising the volumes of car traffic generated by the development the proposed measures will reduce the risk of traffic accidents in and around the school grounds.
