Killybegs Fishery Harbour Centre

RPS was appointed by the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources for the €38M development of 450m of new pier and quayside facilities for commercial fishing, offshore energy (oil, gas and renewables) and cruise sectors.

 
The project involved the construction of 450m of Deep Water Quay, together with a fish handling plant, stores, boat repair shed, 11ha reclamation and 355,000m³ dredging at Rough Point, Killybegs. The works also comprised the construction of a significant harbour administration building housing several tenants, including customs and fisheries inspectors.

Challenge

Killybegs FHC was a complex project involving many disciplines and required effective project management throughout. Engineering challenges included:

• Initial consolidation of the reclamation area of 11 hectares, using recovered sands, gravels and stiff clay, was a particular challenge.
• Active aquaculture sites were present in proximity to the site, requiring careful consideration of dredging methodology.
• The range of potential uses of the facility led to challenges in providing adequate deck loading capacity.
• The first enclosed ship repair and painting building in a National FHC presented challenges to the design for critical wind-loading conditions. This was a large building with hinged doors comprising the entire gable end of the building.
• Stiff clays on site presented challenges concerning pile installation.
• High standards of cleanliness needed to be considered during the design phase for areas for fish handling and wash down.

Solution

RPS was the lead consultant in undertaking all services for feasibility studies, concept layouts, planning application, detailed design, contract preparation and site supervision and administration. We worked with the client and stakeholders to develop a scheme and associated facilities to meet a diverse range of requirements.

Preliminary studies included investigating alternative locations for port expansion in Killybegs Harbour to facilitate the expanded local fishing fleet, encourage further visiting fishing boats and future-proof the port with facilities for the emerging oil, gas and renewable energy sector.

Key to a cost-effective solution was careful consideration of the cut and fill balance between the re-used dredged material and the reclamation area, which included an assessment of material consolidation times against required timescales for occupation.
 
We also prepared and managed a breadth of environmental and statutory consenting processes to ensure the project met all statutory requirements.