Bridges of Sligo - Some Old and Some New

Gary J Salter, BE, MSc, Eur Ing, CEng, MICE, CMIWEM, MIHT

Senior Executive Engineer, Structures and Marine Section, Directorate of Infrastructural Services, Sligo County Council.

22nd March, 2010, 8pm, Sligo Park Hotel, Pearse Road, Sligo (webcast cancelled)

Sligo County Council is responsible for maintaining a stock of over 350 bridges, the vast majority over 130 years old, as well as planning and providing new infrastructure.  This talk will look at the history of arch bridge theory, bridges of the county, and case studies of a number of repair and conservation projects carried out by Sligo Co.Co.  Additionally, newer structures, some not built yet, will be included.

Gary has many years experience and a particular interest in old bridges.  He has previously given talks to Engineers Ireland, the National Roads Authority and for Heritage Week on a number of occasions.

Admission free.

Apologies.  The webcast of this event has been cancelled.

Please feel free to post comments or questions after the event.

ESB – Smart Networks Strategy

Date: Mon 08^th February, 2010
Time: 8.00pm
Venue: Sligo Park Hotel, Sligo
(also available via webcast - recording access instructions below)

About the speakers:
Paul Hickey has a primary degree in Electrical Engineering from University College Dublin and a Masters Degree in Business Administration from the same college. He has worked in the Networks business in both Transmission and Distribution for thirty years. His current role is Manager, Commercial, Regulation and Strategy at ESB Networks.

About the event: In recent years a huge amount of interest has arisen in Smart Networks. Barack Obama included the roll out of smart networks as part of his stimulus package. There is also a lot of debate throughout Europe on this topic. This presentation will outline ESB Networks strategy for developing smart networks. It will describe work already carried out in this area and the challenges still to be addressed. The integrated nature of the strategy will be outlined, which, when implemented will bring benefits of enhanced customer value, lower CO2 emissions and improved security of supply. ESB has a number of technical problems to address to facilitate the full roll out of smart networks and some of these R&D projects will be outlined.

Admission: Free. All welcome.


Click here to access recording.
If you have any comments, please post to the blog below.

Timber- Working with a Sustainable, Structural Material

Date: 18th January, 2010
Time: 8.00pm
Venue: Sligo Park Hotel, Sligo
(webcast recordings now available)

About the speakers:
Dr. Raymond Gilfillan has recently retired as an academic from the School of Planning, Architecture and Civil Engineering at Queen’s University, Belfast. He continues to act as a consultant to the Technology Centre at the university that offers services to industry. He is a chartered structural engineer and fellow of the Institute of Wood Science with many years experience of timber-based research and engineering practice.

Link to Recording

Colin Bell BSc,PG Dip,MSc Arch is a Sligo based architect with extensive experience in timber post and beam construction. He has completed a wide range of work in this field including the Organic Centre in Co. Leitrim, and various private projects in the North West.

Link to Recording

About the event: Timber is gaining increasing recognition as a sustainable structural material. However, unlike steel and concrete, timber is a natural material, and therefore does not have consistent structural properties. This lecture will take a look at the characteristics of timber and the challenges the material poses in relation to structural design, and will present an overview of the practicalities of this type of construction, including design of elements, sourcing timber, dealing with the Irish building regulations, jointing techniques, durability, thermal mass, advantages and disadvantages, etc. Reference will be made to various building projects ranging from houses to churches, and also to some recent research work relevant to practice.

Spirit of Ireland Lecture

This presentation will proceed as planned, however we are unable to webcast it and we hope to reorganise a webcast for another time.

INNOVATION OR FANTASY – PUBLIC LECTURE TO EXPLORE POTENTIAL OF WIND ENERGY

A public lecture on the very topical subject of our energy resources will be held In the Sligo Park Hotel on Monday 19th October (8.00pm start). The lecture is being hosted by Engineers Ireland and will focus on the ‘Spirit of Ireland’, the National Project for Energy Independence.

Graham O’Donnell of the ‘Spirit of Ireland’ Project Team outlined the background to the project. ‘The Spirit of Ireland initiative was launched last May, and has received a lot of favourable publicity. In essence, this ambitious proposal involves storing wind energy in pumped seawater reservoirs along the western Irish coast. Wind is an intermittent resource which varies with the seasons and with weather conditions. Electricity demand also varies enormously over a given 24 hour period. While there is an abundant wind energy resource in Ireland, output cannot be controlled to meet varying energy demand as is typical with conventional power stations. Therefore to utilise surplus wind energy when it is available, the energy produced needs to be stored.’

Innovative

The Spirit of Ireland project proposes to construct water storage reservoirs at natural high points along the coast. Wind energy would be used to pump seawater from sea level to the upper reservoirs. This water is then released through turbines which generate electricity when needed. This solves the problem of matching supply with demand such as using up surplus wind energy at night when demand is low.

While this proposal is innovative, there are significant challenges also including agricultural, environmental and social impacts.

Ireland already has one such pumped storage facility at Turlough Hill in Co Wicklow. Built in the late 1960’s the upper reservoir contains over 2 million cubic metres of water which is controlled to provide a balance between day and night time electricity demands.

Energy Costs

Michael Carty, Chairman of Engineers Ireland Northwest Region, anticipates a very high level of interest in the lecture. ‘In economic terms, Ireland’s future is bound up with the cost, security and stable supply of energy. At present we are highly dependent on imported fossil fuels and are therefore exposed to volatile international prices for oil and gas. In addition to having a direct influence on our cost competitiveness, our reliance on imported fossil fuels raises the carbon intensity of our economy and works against imminent Kyoto targets.’

The Spirit of Ireland project as proposed, is so vast in scale i.e. provide all of Ireland’s energy requirements within 5 years, that it will directly impact on Irelands economy, security of energy supply and carbon targets. This initiative to harness a natural resource has generated both support and scepticism but nonetheless kick-started a national debate on large scale investment in renewable energy.

Join Engineers Ireland northwest on Monday 19 October in Sligo Park Hotel at 8:00pm to learn more. Graham O'Donnell, Electrical & Electronics Engineer, is one of the leaders of this project, has over 20 years experience of international power networks and will present the lecture.

Engineers- Overseas Voluntary Work Options

8.00pm, September 21st, Sligo Park Hotel

(Recordings now available - see below)
Volunteering offers one of the most rewarding ways to beat the current recession and make a real difference. Have you considered sharing your Engineering skills and translate generosity into practical, life-changing achievements? Engineers Ireland Northwest invites you to an evening lecture by both Voluntary Organisations and Engineers who have previously volunteered (including Voluntary Services Overseas VSO and the Niall Mellon Township Trust), which will provide a unique insight into the workings of these charities, the technical and logistic challenges they face, and the experience on offer. All are welcome.

Speakers:

Christy O’Sullivan is Operations Director with RPS Consulting Engineers and is based in Galway. He has significant experience of working overseas in developing countries, including Zimbabwe, Sudan, Malawi and Tonga. Christy has worked with a variety of Aid Agencies, including APSO (Irish Government), Concern (Ireland), Concern (UK), IFAD and the EU, and his presentation gave a real insight into the challenges and experiences which a volunteer might expect when working overseas.

(Contact - christy.osullivan@rpsgroup.com)

Dominic Loughran has been Director of Operations with the Niall Mellon Township Trust for the past year. Before that Dominic was a volunteer with the charity for four years. Dominic was foreman of the Gardening team who planned the Garden of Hope project as an annex project to the Building Blitz in 2006. Dominic is a qualified Accountant and Horticulturalist, and is a registered speaker with the Royal Society of Horticulturalists. Dominic’s presentation gave an overview of the Niall Mellon initiative, focussing on the technical and logistical challenges.

(Contact - dominic.loughran@nmtownshiptrust.com)

The webcasts of this event were recorded: here are the links:

Christy O'Sullivan - 20 minutes

Dominic Loughran - 18 minutes

Contact details for Aid Agencies

Energy from the Ocean

Energy from the Ocean

The next and final lecture in the 2008-2009 series entitled ‘Energy from the Ocean’ is scheduled for Monday night next 23.03.2009 at 8:00 in Mespil Room of the Sligo Pak Hotel.

The lecture will be presented by Colm de Búrca, Manager Ocean Energy at ESB International and Gerry White also of ESBI. Colm will describe the significant ocean energy resource that exists off the Irish coast and the technologies under development to harness the resource such as the tidal power generating device installed in Strangford Lough, Northern Ireland. The 1.2 megawatt SeaGen turbine will generate one of the most environmentally friendly and sustainable forms of energy with zero carbon emissions. It will be capable of providing enough clean electricity to power 1,000 homes.

Please note that the event is free and open to all.

This will not be webcast live but will be available as a recording after the event. Please check back here later.

Unable to Webcast Fire Safety Lecture

Please not that we are not in a position to webcast this evening lecture. you are, of course, free to attend at the actcual location.

The North-West Region is pleased to invite you to attend the following CPD approved evening lecture:

Title: Fire Safety - The same old story, yet so many die each year?

Speaker: Paul Coyle, Chief Fire Officer, Sligo Fire Station

Date: Monday, 9th February, 2009

Time: 20.00pm

Venue: IT Sligo

Please note that this is a CPD event - those viewing the lecture by webcast can include it in the CPD hours.

All are welcome and there will be no entrance fee.

For further information, please click on the following link: http://www.engineersireland.ie/diary/SectorEventDetails.pasp?INT_SECTOR_ID=96&MenuID=7&SectorName=

For further information, please contact:
Seamus Lee, Secretary,
North West Region, Engineers Ireland
Email: slee@vha.ie
Tel: 087 684 1447