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

Achieving A-Rated Concrete and Timber Frame Homes

The North-West Region of Engineers Ireland

Invites you to attend an Evening Lecture and Web-cast

Achieving A-Rated Concrete and Timber Frame Homes

Presented by:

Liam Smyth,
Head of Marketing and Technical with Irish Concrete Federation

Gary Treanor
Chairman of the Irish Timber Frame Association

8:00pm Monday 19th January 2009
Bush Hotel, Carrick on Shannon

The webcast is hosted with the assistance of the online distance learning unit in the School of Engineering, Institute of Technology, Sligo. (www.itsligo.ie/online) and is hosted on the Engineers Ireland Web-casting platform at: https://engineersireland.webex.com/ . It is recommended that you register in advance of attending the event.

CPD Accredited
All welcome & no entrance fee

Recording is available here (Recording starts about 2 minutes into the first presentation and sound is poor)

Further details:

In light of additional amendments to the Building Regulations in 2008 which require a 40% improvement in energy efficiency on previous regulations as well as requirements that all new homes must be accompanied by BER (Building Energy Rating) Certificate, this presentation and webcast is designed to be informative and will be of particular interested to anyone who wishes to learn more about Energy Efficient Home Construction.

The presentation will be provided by two guest speakers, both engineers and professionals in the concrete and timber frame industries.
Gary Treanor is Director of Business & Product Development with Kingspan Century and the current Chairman of the Irish Timer Frame Manufacturers Association.

Liam Smyth is Head of Marketing and Technical with Irish Concrete Federation, the national trade federation for the concrete and aggregate industries.

Timber Frame has developed rapidly as a house construction method in Ireland in the last two decades. It is recognised for quality control, speed of construction and for improved insulation properties. The House of Tomorrow Programme and product development advances including pre-insulation and panel fabrication provide improved air tightness, insulation and thermal efficiencies designed to achieve the highest possible energy ratings. Gary will detail the benefits of using timber frame construction further as well as provide a summary introduction to recent changes to the Building Regulations and BER Certification.

The first 2 A-Rated houses built in Ireland were concrete built. Liam Smyth will provide an outline of the use and benefits of concrete construction, including a step by step guide to achieving A rating and the use of the recently published Acceptable Construction Details for Thermal Bridging. Liam will also present details of the ICF’’s Zero Carbon Emissions Project which is due for completion this Summer.

The event is in the Bush Hotel, Carrick on Shannon on Monday 19.01.2009 at 8:00 pm, followed by a Q&A session and light refreshments. There is no admission charge and all are welcome.

From Piled Embankments to off Shore Anchoring Systems

From Piled Embankments to off Shore Anchoring Systems – Geotechnical Research
at the Institute of Technology Sligo
Presented by
Dr Pat Naughton & Dr Con O’Loughlin
School of Engineering
IT Sligo
Monday 24th November, 2008, 8pm (Room A0004 - IT Sligo)

The Institute of Technology sector has expanded rapidly in recent years. In IT Sligo educational programmes in Civil Engineering range from Ordinary and Honours Bachelors (accredited by Engineers Ireland) to Masters and PhD degrees. The Geotechnical Research Group, lead by Dr Pat Naughton & Dr Con O’Loughlin has being awarded over € 650,000 in competitive research funding in the last year. The group currently has five Masters and PhD students researching piled embankments, site investigation techniques, reuse of marginal poor quality fills and off shore anchoring systems. In addition, internal funding from the Institute has allowed the
group to develop a state of the art geotechnical laboratory and facilitated the purchase of the first geotechnical centrifuge in Ireland. The centrifuge will greatly enhance the groups testing and research capabilities.

This presentation focuses on two particular areas of research currently conducted by the group: piled embankments and off shore anchoring systems. Piled embankments are used around the world to control settlements of road and rail infrastructure constructed on soft compressible soils. Off shore anchoring systems are used extensively in the construction of off shore energy farms and in the oil industry. An overview of the research mythologies and current findings are presented, along with the implications for design and construction in these applications.

The IT Sligo geotechnical centrifuge will allow study of the behaviour of foundations, offshore anchorages, embankments or supports, using reduced-scale models. The scale-reduction factor of the model is equal to the centrifugal acceleration being applied, typically up to 100g. Load cells, displacement transducers and photographic techniques allow loads and deformations in the model to be quantified. Details on how this advanced testing technique will be integrated into the investigation of these two research areas are presented.

A recording of the two presentations is available here (there are some sound problems in the second presentation)

New Wastewater Treatment Works for Sligo City

Engineers Ireland North West invites you to an Evening Lecture and Webcast entitled ‘New Wastewater Treatment Works for Sligo City’ on Monday 13 October at 8 pm in the Glasshouse Hotel.

The lecture is a joint presentation by Sligo County Council and Jennings & O’Donovan Engineers and will give a detailed insight to one of the largest infrastructural projects in the region.

Pat Doyle, Project Engineer, Sligo County Council
Louise Dwyer, Senior engineer, Jennings O'Donovan
James Melvin, Senior Resident Engineer, Sligo County Council

Also, there is an opportunity to visit the site and works on Monday 13.10.2008 at 12:00. If interested please revert to Séamus Lee (slee@vha.ie) for details regarding meeting point, etc.

Please note that as a CPD approved event, those viewing the lecture by webcast can include it in their CPD hours.

Webcast Recordings are available, but there were a few technical problems with connectivity. The recording was split into two parts. The sound was too low for the first 3 minutes and it took another minute to get it sorted. In addition we lost connectivity after about 24 minutes and it took us a few minutes to get setup again. The last 39 minutes is in a second recording where the sound seem to have been fine but there is a little problem of synchronisation with the slides from time to time. However we hope you find it useful:

• Part 1
• Part 2

Slides in PDF format are available here. (It's big - 43Mb)

We would welcome you comments below.

Rural Broadband Access – Donegal, A Case Study

The North-West Region of Engineers Ireland

Invites you to attend an Evening Lecture

Presented by:

John O’Raw - IT Manager, Institute of Technology Letterkenny
and
Danny McFadden - IT Manager, NWENW

Rural Broadband Access – Donegal, A Case Study
Recording now available here: http://breeze.itsligo.ie/p18431116/
You will need Flash player installed on your PC.
8:00 p.m.
Monday 22nd September 2008
The Radisson Hotel,
Ballincar, Rosses Point, Sligo

All welcome & no entrance fee
CPD Accredited



Abstract:

The lack of national policy to deliver modern communications has resulted in the absence of a carrier independent core infrastructure and a strategically planned last mile delivery. Universal service in Ireland was defined for voice, not for data. This has been addressed in other jurisdictions by building codes rather than technology. The only feasible short and medium term solution to the deficit of last-mile infrastructure is the planned and structured use of wireless technologies. Although a number of discrete government owned fibre and microwave networks exists, government funded networks have generally been single purpose and do not integrate or collaborate at a business level.

Rural towns of population sizes greater than 1,000 generally have competitive broadband services based on DSL and wireless, however coverage issues are common. There is generally considered to be no commercial case for broadband services in dispersed rural areas.

To provide for home-working business applications 1mbs of TCPIP with low latency has proved sufficient. Recreational use tends to have a greater requirement. Business sites will clearly require much greater capacity.

Present 3G/UMTS technology is unlikely to deliver to end-users expectations in the medium term. A typical HSDPA site will provide up to 7.2mbs/sector downstream (theoretical 14mbs). However there is no way to predict the simultaneous customer numbers and quality of service.

Empirically, using unlicensed 5.8ghz WiMAX equipment total throughput of 54mbs/sector is currently achieved and there is an expectation of doubling this within 6 months. The same technology can be used for point-to-point links, currently delivering dedicated 54mbs to a typical business customer. Using licensed 3.5 ghz WiMAX throughputs are considerably lower due to the available spectrum. A carrier grade core will typically include diverse licensed microwave links and MPLS switches.

The economics indicate a Wireless ISP (WISP) using unlicensed technology with a single site could break even over a period of less than two years. However, the construction of a carrier grade core is capital intensive and requires more complex business modelling. Licensed technology is considerably less economical.

The constraint on the use of wireless is the availability of spectrum. A typical 5.8ghz site will use discrete 20mhz channels, giving a maximum of 360 end points per site. Throughput from licensed technologies will be lower due to the smaller channel sizes, guard bands and exclusion zones. The same issues exist for UMTS. Ongoing roll-out of wireless technologies will require higher density of sites

Upcoming webcasts

A number of webcasts have been announced in the Engineers Journal for the next season (there may even be more). Check back here for access instructions coming up to the date, or email brian.mulligan@gmail.com to have them sent to you.

Feel free to make any comments below on the development.

Recording of Geological Survey of Ireland INFOMAR Webcast

Title: INFOMAR – Ireland’s marine mapping programme

Presented by: Koen Verbruggen, GSI and John Evans, Marine Institute, Joint Project Managers, INFOMAR

Time: 8.30pm - Date: Monday, 11th February 2008

Venue: Glasshouse Hotel, Hyde bridge, Sligo Webcast recording here

Feel free to post comments below.