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ENERGY INTERNATIONAL
December 2011/January 2012 www.esb.ie/em
The end of an era for Bellacorick Power Station
Generation Operations
BELLACORICK POWER STATION has been a significant presence on the North Mayo skyline for many years. It was the last thing immigrants saw when leaving the peninsula and the first thing that greeted them on their return home. Following the closure of the station, the skyline was considerably changed when the Cooling Tower was demolished in 2007.
However, due to programme requirements, the demolition of the main station buildings did not commence until February 2010. The recent completion of these demolition works represents a significant milestone as Bellacorick was the last of the old Midland Region stations to be demolished – a programme of demolition that commenced in 1996 and that has resulted in a total of 11 closed The end of an era for Bellacorick Power Station power stations being demolished.
Pre-demoliton works, including the removal of asbestos, took place during 2010 with the main demolition works commencing in June 2011. The size of the structures in Bellacorick made it possible to carry out the demolition without the use of explosives. Each section of the structure was separated and pulled over, commencing with the turbine hall, the two boilers, tank bay and finally the bunkers.
The works were audited by the Health & Safety Authority, ESB Senior Management and the Environmental Protection Agency. All commented on the high standards of safety and environmental controls in place, which is a credit to all the ESB and Robinson & Birdsell contractor staff involved.
Fisheries, Property & Asset Recovery Manager Noel Greally congratulated the project team (Project Manager John Scanlon and Site Supervisors Catherine Bermingham and Charlie Conroy), which has been involved in most of the station demolitions over the years. He said, “The demolitions have been conducted in a professional manner with due regard for environmental issues, within constraints of the IPPCLs [Integrated Pollution Prevention Control Licences] and with safety performance always paramount.”
‘Graduate’ of ESBI’s Women in Engineering Programme pursues engineering career
ESBI’S WOMEN IN Engineering Programme is now in its fifth year and has become a great success in this short period. The annual programme invites up to 19 female Transition Year students from schools across Dublin to participate in the event, which takes place each November. Students are brought on-site visits, get the chance to meet ESB ’s engineers, compete in engineering challenges and find out what having a career in engineering can offer.
In 2008, student Ashling Gibbons attended the programme and has now made the decision to pursue a career in engineering. Ashling has just started her Degree in Engineering at UCD.
When asked how the Women in Engineering Programme influenced her decision, Ashling said, “Before the Women in Engineering event, I was not entirely sure about what engineers did, however, the week helped me to see how broad the discipline is and all the opportunities that would be available with an engineering degree. We heard from a lot of different women working within ESBI and they gave us a great insight into the type of work they had done and places to which they had travelled. The week reassured me that engineering was something I really wanted to do”.
The Women in Engineering Programme is organised by Lisa McCord from the Learning and Development Team in ESBI, and is strongly supported by the GMT. ESBI Manager Ollie Brogan said,. “The Women in Engineering Programme aims to encourage more female students to think about engineering as a career. Making the decision on your future career is a very difficult one and we hope the programme helps students to clarify which direction their future could take. We wish Ashling all the best with her degree course.”
This year’s Women in Engineering Programme runs from Wednesday to Friday November 23rd to 25th.
Diabetes - the facts
Health & Habitat
page 33
New Fish Pass on Woodford River
THE WOODFORD RIVER, in Co. Galway, enters the River Shannon in the northwest section of Lough Derg and represents an important habitat for many fish species, most notably salmon, eel and trout. The mid-section of the river was impounded some decades ago to form a recreational area for the adjacent village and, although it produced a picturesque recreational area, the weir formed a barrier for the upward migration of fish.
ESB Fisheries Conservation are currently engaged in a series of riverine habitat re-development works within the mid-Shannon catchment as part of the Shannon Fisheries Partnership. The team was asked by a local group if mitigation works could be carried out to decrease the serious effects of this obstacle on fish migration. After consultation with relevant bodies, ESB Fisheries decided that a rock ramp type of fish pass incorporating a series of pools would be best suited to the site and work commenced on the project in August.
A rock ramp fish pass comprises a series of pools formed with boulders incorporating boulder sills, over which the water flows from pool to pool. The base of the ramp was constructed with compacted graded granular material below a layer of cobbles. A layer of concrete was also incorporated on the top of the base material. The pools and weir sills were then formed with selected boulders and incorporated gaps at each weir. The bases of the pools were finally covered with a layer of natural stone and gaps between the boulders were closed below water level.
During periods of high flow, as the water level upstream rises, the flow discharges over the whole length of the weir. Flows into the fish ramp also increase but the arrangement at the top pool is such as to limit those flows. Finally, a large pool was constructed at the bottom of the ramp which allows fish to enter the fish bypass. The design is based on a minimum flow of 0.1m3/s-1, which is exceeded 80% of the time, and a maximum flow of 1.5m3/s-1, exceeded 10% of the time. This means that the fish pass provides adequate conditions for the passage of fish for 70% of the time.
This is the first time such a fish pass has been designed and constructed by ESB Fisheries. Fisheries, Property & Asset Recovery Manager Noel Greally paid tribute to the ingenuity and skill of Fisheries staff, led by Supervisor Tom Clancy, who carried out the work. The project has been inspected by the Shannon Fisheries Partnership Group, Inland Fisheries Ireland and other state agencies and has received universal approval. Indeed, the fish pass has also been approved by the native species as trout and salmon have already been seen ascending in large numbers.
ESB Fisheries would like to thank retired civil engineer Murt Lowry, who assisted with the design.
Paper presented at Kuala Lumpur Conference
