Client:
DBFL were commissioned by John Paul Construction as part of the Design Build Team to spearhead civil and structural engineering services for this nationally important infrastructure project. DBFL have overall responsibility for all the civil and structural aspects of the Rosslare Europort works as well as coordination of all site-wide below ground services.
DBFL are a key part of the project team for this ambitious project. Prior to breaking ground in June 2023, DBFL were responsible for a number of key design innovations, such as significantly reducing steel quantities in RC elements, which resulted in significant cost and carbon savings on the project. The project consists of over 35 buildings, covering various import and export functions across the site along with circa 120,000sqm of concrete trailer parking area and associated works. The overall site is some 200,000sqm. A key challenge of the works is ensuring port operations can remain ongoing while the permanent construction works are underway.
The co-ordination of below-ground services allocation is managed by DBFL using a sitewide federated BIM model which has been created through the use of Revizto collaboration software.
DBFL are advocates of ground improvement works such as cement/lime stabilisation, as it can represent major cost savings for clients, as well as being far more environmentally friendly than bulk import of fill materials. We shall take cognisance of the possibility of ground improvement works when developing the preliminary design. This will allow us to specify the relevant testing to investigate the suitability of the native soils for cement/lime stabilisation if so required as part of possible infilling works. Cement/lime stabilisation is also feasible for certain types of foundations, which may well reduce import costs for general fill materials across other parts of the site.
In Rosslare, DBFL has responsibility for the design of foundations for buildings, retaining walls, heavy duty manholes and chambers, high mast lighting (up to 30m high), lighting columns, CCTV columns, etc. DBFL advocate a first principles approach to all our designs to ensure value and economy is realised by our clients, while ensuring our designs remain robust over their intended design life.
Project Director
