ESK Plant Ltd is a successful civil engineering company which was formed in 1999. From its head office in Clonmel, Co. Tipperary, the company aims to provide a service where quality, efficiency, safety and value are key fundamentals.
Operating high standards of workmanship, quality, commercial awareness, communication, safety and welfare, ESK Plant Ltd employs 30 skilled and experienced local staff. The key personnel within the company include founder and managing director Joe Holohan, commercial manager Tom Holland, project managers David O’Brien and Philip O’Connor, health and safety advisor Robert Blackmore and office administrator Lesley Entwistle. They are supported by a team of site supervisors, plant operatives and skilled operatives.
Over the past two decades, ESK Plant Ltd has gained respect from its clients and developed an excellent reputation for completing projects on time, within budget and to a very high standard. The main areas of work undertaken by the company are: ESB pylon civil works, including foundation bases, tower investigation and tower foundations upgrade; civil and building works for ESB substations; civil and building works for water and wastewater treatment plants; site clearance and substructure work; all groundworks, including drainage and underground services.
ESK Plant Ltd boasts an impressive client list which includes Gaeltec Utilities, EPS Group, Obelisk Group, Semiton, Reach Active, Dunnes Stores, TLI Group, Rivus Ecological Engineering, Medite, Powerteam, Omexom Power & Grid, Tesco, Bulmers and Coolmore Stud. It operates a wide range of plant, including 21 and 13 tonne excavators, six and three tonne mini diggers, 10, nine and six tonne dumpers, teleporters, tractor and low loaders, tractor and dump trailers, truck and low loaders, JCB 3CX machines as well as a dozen vans / crew cabs.
Between 2014 and 2016, ESK Plant completed a variety of projects for the ESB. These included pylon tower foundations in Cahir / Thurles, Co. Tipperary (x2); Bruckanna Wind Farm, Co. Offaly; Cunghill / Sligo, Co. Sligo; Cunghill / Glenree, Co. Sligo; Ardnacrusha / Limerick, Co. Limerick; Cathleen’s Falls / Shranagh, Co. Donegal; Tarbert / Kilpaddoge, Co. Kerry. It also undertook pylon investigation works in Cahir / Tipperary, Cashla / Dalton, Tynagh / Derryfrench, Louth / Rathrussan, Cloon / Lanesboro and Castlebar / Dalton along with pylon neck refurbishment works in Dunstown / Turlough Hill, Co. Wicklow and Oldstreet / Woodland, Co. Offaly.
Civil works included removal of old tower base and construction of new pylon, including excavation, installation of pylon legs, line and levelling pylon, reinforced concrete base, sheet piling where required, backfilling and making good to all areas.
From 2006 to 2017, ESK Plant Ltd were civil works partner to the ESB’s main framework contractors, Gaeltec Utilities Ltd, TLI Group, Reach Active Ltd and Powerteam, on a major ESB Networks Tower Foundation contract which involved replacing existing and construction of ESB Networks towers during an available outage period. Approximately 50 new 38kV, 110kV and 240kV towers were replaced on an annual basis. ESK Plant Ltd was responsible for all civil, erection and concrete works on site. The scope of works included maintaining ESB safety requirements at all times; constructing pylons in all types of terrain, bogs, mountains and rock; constructing access into difficult sites; excavating for pylon foundations; sheet piling in sites with poor ground conditions; pour and vibrating concrete for foundation base; levels and setting out for accurate pylon location; disposing of excavated material.
ESK Plant has completed wastewater treatment plants in Clonakilty, Co. Cork, Riverstick, Co. Cork, Glanbia, Bellview Port, Co. Waterford, Kilmacow, Co. Kilkenny, Portlaoise, Co. Laois, Clonmel, Co. Tipperary as well as a grouped scheme in Tipperary. Water treatment plants were also completed in Ballymahon and Granard, Co. Longford, Raheenleigh, Co. Carlow and Lough Forbes, Co. Longford. Civil works included construction of in-situ concrete tanks, precast concrete inlet works and screen chambers, administration and dewatering building, asphalt access roads and kerbs, fencing, underground pipework and drainage, telecommunications ducting and chambers, and process pipework, including ductile iron pipework.
Other projects undertaken by ESK Plant include: Thomastown River Works – construction of outdoor swimming pool and associated works in live river; Laois Traincare Depot, Portlaoise – groundworks package; Waterford IT – advanced service diversion for new building project; Coolmore Stud – development of farm and stable complex; Edenderry Power Plant – groundworks package for peaking plant; Merk Sharp Dohme – civil groundworks package for R&D building; Dunnes Stores – groundworks package for new Clonmel development; Bulmers – installation of underground services and new roundabout in Clonmel; Tesco – groundworks package, Clonmel; Ballydoyle Racing – construction of new gallops and widening of existing gallops, Clonmel.
As the Clonmel-based firm has grown over the years, so too has its awareness to the requirements of the safety, health and welfare at work regulations. ESK Plant Ltd’s safety record is exemplary with site practices being regularly reviewed. The company employs directly an EHS advisor, contracts manager, project manager and site supervisors who carry out regular on-the-spot audits, which allows for a thorough management of safety on site.
ESK staff are highly competent and experienced. All plant operators hold the relevant CSCS card and all staff have completed Safe Pass Health & Safety Awareness training. Plant and lifting equipment is certified and inspected as required under the regulations.
The company is committed to: managing its work activities to minimise the risk of accidents to its employees, sub-contractors and the general public; consulting with employees, sub-contractors and others to continuously improve safety on site; continually improving its safety management systems and actively seeks to establish and maintain the highest possible standards of health, safety and welfare; keeping its procedures under constant review in order to ensure ongoing compliance with current legislation and best practice.
ESK Plant complies with all safety legislation, including the Safety Health & Welfare at Work Act 2005, General Applications Regulations 2007 and Construction Regulations 2013.
ESK Plant Ltd
Rivus House,
7E Gurtnafleur Business Park,
Clonmel,
Co. Tipperary.
E91 PH32
Telephone: 052 6128111
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.eskplant.ie
Taken from Building Ireland Magazine, June 2017, Vol 3 No 5
