Malachy Walsh and Partners is a multi-disciplinary engineering consultancy which provides a first class service to clients. The company were winners at the ACEI Awards in its Innovation Category this past March, so Building Ireland caught up with Associate Director Sean Doyle to learn more.
These are busy times at Malachy Walsh and Partners and there’s no sign of a let up either, according to Sean Doyle who has been with the company for nearly two decades now.
Founded in 1967, the company now has offices in Cork, Limerick, Tralee and London and throughout all four they maintain the objective is to seek continued growth of the Practice through increased diversity and the promotion of greater expertise and innovation, particularly in specialised engineering areas.
Indeed Malachy Walsh and Partners has become renowned as a firm which is successful in identifying areas of growth and pursuing these areas in the expansion of its business.
Sean Doyle is an Associate Director with the company, operating out of its Tralee office, and told Building Ireland all about the business, its current projects and recent success at the ACEI Awards.
“We provide a comprehensive Engineering and Environmental Consultancy Service for all types of projects,” Sean outlined.
“Our services would include Civil and Structural, Mechanical and Electrical, Environmental, Energy Consultancy Engineering, Pharmaceutical, Marine and Coastal and Water Services.
“We’ve bases in London, Cork, Tralee and Limerick and in the Tralee office we have 35 staff here the moment.”
Malachy Walsh and Partners’ experience stretches throughout the wide scope of the construction market, including Transportation and related Infrastructure.
These services are tailored to the specific needs of each client and include engineering services, environmental services and specialist services.
Previous high-profile projects include work carried out on Pairc Ui Chaoimh in 2017, when the company acted as the design project manager and were responsible for all engineering disciplines, fire engineering and environmental assessment, along with the multi-million euro office refurbishment of Heineken Ireland in Cork in the same year.
Both were award winning projects but the most recent national success for the company came this past March when it picked up the Innovation Award at the ACEI Design Excellence Awards for its work on the Rossbeigh Cliff Bypass in County Kerry.
Rossbeigh itself is situated on the southern shore of Dingle Bay and cliff stabilisation and erosion has been issues for years.
The design required the development of innovative engineering solutions to address and manage the very challenging geotechnical and topographical conditions, traffic management and drainage control issues, taking due account of the considerable health and safety risks both for road users and for construction personnel.
The solution depended on the development of innovative construction techniques in an extremely difficult site, carried out on a very steep slope with a level difference of 22 metres over the extent of the works.
The construction method required geogrid reinforced earth and soil nailing techniques for structural stability.
The embankment surface consisted of a topsoil layer temporarily supported by biodegradable matting and a light steel mesh to support vegetation.
The project itself was carried out on behalf of Kerry County Council and constructed by Griffin Brothers Ltd.
Sean explained the project itself was a time consuming one for all involved…
“It was a very difficult project and took about four or five months to construct,” outlined Sean, who has been an Associate Director at Malachy Walsh and Partners since 2006.
“We have been very busy for the last year or so here and have had a lot of work on with roads and bridges, but I’d say the Rossbeigh Cliff Bypass was one of the toughest we’ve undertaken.
“We’re delighted with how it turned out in the end and I think everyone involved was as well.”
The solution was first proposed in 2015 and construction started in 2017 following further erosion of the coast. The project cost, including some coast protection, was €1.1million.
On March 29th, Malachy Walsh and Partners were announced as winners of the Innovation Award at the annual Associate of Consulting Engineers of Ireland (ACEI) Awards in Dublin’s Intercontinental Hotel for its work on the Rossbeigh Cliff Bypass.
On the night, ACEI President Ciarán Kennedy presented with Jack O’Leary and Sean Doyle of Malachy Walsh and Partners with the prestigious gong.
“It was great to be able to do something different and get the acknowledgement for it then I suppose,” said Sean.
“We’d get a lot of work here through our innovation alone and to earn an award for it is special too.”
It was a night to remember and you’d be safe enough to bet that it won’t be this company’s last success at a national awards’ ceremony.
Malachy Walsh and Partners have been leading the way when it comes to innovation in engineering and environmental consultancy for some time now, dating back to perhaps when it was first founded in 1967.
Now, 52 years on from its inception, the goal at the company still remains to provide an all-embracing engineering service encompassing Civil, Structural, Mechanical, Electrical, Environmental, Project Management, Conservation, P.S.D.P., Fire and Traffic sectors.
Malachy Walsh and Partners is a formally certified company under ISO9001:2008 and is registered with the National Standards Authority of Ireland. A formal Quality System has been in place since 1995 and Certification to ISO9001 meets the requirements of Clause 2(c) and 2(f)of Article 32 of the Public Procurement Directive 92/50/EEC.
Malachy Walsh and Partners is also registered with Achilles Link-up Supplier.
Malachy Walsh and Partners
(Tralee office)
Reen Point,
Blennerville,
Tralee,
Co Kerry
V92 X2TK
Tel: 066 712 3404
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.mwp.ie
Taken from Building Ireland Magazine, July, Vol 5 No 7
