McGinty & O’Shea Ltd are delighted to be a finalist in the ‘Civil Engineering Under €10m’ category of the 2022 Irish Construction Excellence (ICE) Awards for the successful delivery of Provision of Improved Pedestrian & Cycle Facilities in Carrigaline for Cork County Council.
A complex and challenging infrastructure project requiring extensive traffic management in a densely populated urban district, McGinty & O’Shea Ltd excelled by delivering the project to the highest standards, on time and within budget, and crucially with zero-incident safety record. This long-awaited sustainable transport project has been very warmly received by the local community in Carrigaline.
The Irish Construction Excellence Awards are the original and premier recognition of performance excellence for the contracting sector in Ireland and provide an opportunity for the industry to showcase and reward best practice across the full range of construction disciplines and project categories. McGinty & O’Shea Ltd are a leading broad-based building and civil engineering contractor, with particular expertise in the roads and transportation sector and were well placed to undertake such a project. They acknowledge the positive input of Cork County Council’s project team in ensuring the success of the scheme.
“We worked well together to deliver this project. Cork County Council and Cork City Council are two of our main clients and we look forward to collaborating successfully on future projects,” says McGinty & O’Shea Project Manager Damian O’Dwyer.
“While it wasn’t the biggest project we’ve ever undertaken, the location and timescale made this a very challenging project in its own right.”
The scope of the project was to provide enhanced active travel facilities in the vicinity of a new 1,600-pupil educational campus in Carrigaline, which is the largest urban area in the administrative area of Cork County Council. The Ashgrove Roundabout is a busy junction on the main R611 regional road through the town, having an annual average daily traffic of 30,000 vehicles. The L2464 Ballinrea Road is one of the approach roads to the Ashgrove Roundabout and links the R611 to the new educational campus.
The key objective of the project was to promote walking and cycling to and from the campus, and to protect vulnerable road users through segregation and the provision of controlled pedestrian crossings. Such crossings were included along the Ballinrea Road and at the roundabout. Just over 1km of the Ballinrea Road from the roundabout to the educational campus was improved through realignment, narrowing and resurfacing of existing roads, installation of new footpaths and cycle paths, installation of raised tables at junctions, narrowing of junctions and the introduction of signalised crossings.
Covid-19 restrictions delayed the commencement of the project from January 2021 to April 2021. Typically, such a delay would see a movement in the end-date. However, in this instance, the works had to be substantially complete by the end of September 2021 to coincide with the opening of the new school campus. Hence the nine month works programme had to be delivered in six months.
To achieve this, the proposed sequence of works was scheduled to focus primarily on the upgrade works on the L2464 Ballinrea Road to ensure this key section was complete in time for the opening of the school campus. Where it was initially proposed to complete works on opposing sides of the carriageway successively, the works were completed simultaneously in a staggered sequence to ensure both sides reached completion at the same time. This posed its own series of complications with traffic and pedestrian management which were overcome with careful planning and management of the ever-evolving TM system.
Traffic management was a fundamental part of the scheme and having the ability to set-up, alter and move the TM quickly and efficiently would be key to meeting programme deadlines. With that in mind, Massguard Barrier with pedestrian guardrail was chosen for its safety features for both vehicular and pedestrian delineation, but also for its ability to be moved in sections due to its interlocking design, allowing for quick and efficient alterations to the traffic management layouts. Wardens were utilised at various locations on site to accommodate the safe passage of school children through the work site.
Aside from the known challenges posed by the project, many unforeseen challenges to the project arose during the course of the works. McGinty and O’Shea Ltd responded to such challenges by utilising innovative and alternative construction techniques, increasing resources on site, out of hours working and astute programme management. Improved efficiency and control of resources facilitated cost control an early completion date.
Since completion, the project has been enthusiastically embraced by road users and residents of Carrigaline, particularly at school drop-off and pick-up times, and there has been a notable increase in children using the improved facilities to walk and cycle to school.
With over 20 years’ experience in major infrastructure projects, Project Manager Damian O’Dwyer was assigned specifically to oversee the day-to-day running of the project. His key competencies include: leadership, site supervision and coordination of work crews; programming, scheduling and resourcing; technical problem-solving; strong interpersonal and negotiation skills; safety management and auditing; traffic management design and implementation; quality control and management; contract administration; budgeting and cost plans, and stakeholder liaison.
“My background is in heavy civils. I have worked for other leading contractors, at home and abroad, and was delighted to come on board with McGinty & O’Shea Ltd in more recent times, where I am enjoying their renowned team spirit and can-do attitude.’’
With a Project Manager in place, a team of experienced and skilled personnel were assembled and assigned to the project, including a Quantity Surveyor, Site Foreman, Site Engineer, skilled operatives, and drivers. McGinty & O’Shea Ltd implements a rigorous training, mentoring and continuing professional development regime amongst all its staff, to ensure compliance with CIRI and to promote career development.
McGinty & O’Shea Ltd
Sarsfield Court Industrial Estate,
Glanmire, Co. Cork,
T45 HH39.
Telephone: 021 4858900
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.mcgintyoshea.ie
This article was published in Building Ireland Magazine, August 2022, Vol 8 No 8
