ECI Lot 2A – Castletownbere Sewerage Scheme
Key Information
Project Value €/£
€13 Million
Client
Uisce Eireann
Duration
18 months
Location
South West
Sector
Wastewater
Project Savings & Stats
Project Duration
ECI Model allowed for:
- Collaboration
- Engagement
- Early Procurement
- Advanced Design
- Minimise impact of Covid-19
- Successful project delivery
Cost Savings
Collaboration in terms of community engagement, design & delivery resulted in completion of the project within the projected budget
Social Benefits
Allowing for discharge of compliant wastewater in the beara penninsula
Any significant savings/efficiencies
Delivered during Covid-19 with restrictions in place, project was delivered on-time and on budget
Sector
Wastewater
Project Overview
The Castletownbere Sewerage Scheme was delivered through the Early Contractor Involvement (ECI) Programme, a new Capital delivery Model for Irish Water that encourages engagement with contractors from the start of the project life cycle, driving collaboration and efficiency in terms of project delivery.
The ECI approach places emphasis on a number of key principles such as increased collaboration between the contractor and client, adoption of a commercial pain/gain mechanism, appropriate allocation of risk which leads to greater cost certainty, reduced volumes of tendering and associated inefficiencies, and it encourages supplier-driven innovation which realizes efficiencies at an early design phase.
In order to provide tangible results and move from the transactional and sometimes confrontational traditional delivery model to the Collaborative Working Strategy employed in the ECI Programme, a change in culture and behaviours is required from all parties / stakeholders responsible for project delivery.
In relation to the Castletownbere Project, site works commenced on the 22nd of February 2021, as with all projects that have commenced around that timeframe, a huge variant in terms of project delivery was the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The existing sewerage scheme consisted of ten independent sewers. Only five of these catchments provided some form of treatment to the collected wastewater through septic tanks, with the outstanding five catchments discharging untreated wastewater. The design of the new sewerage scheme involved combining seven of these sewerage catchments through provision of three gravity sewers and four new pumping stations, and a new wastewater treatment plant with the ability to treat sewerage from a population equivalent (PE) of 2,168. The overall cost of the project was €13 million.
Apart from the obvious on-site restrictions a major consideration on the Castletownbere project was how we, as the project delivery team, would deal with public engagement prior to project commencement.
Our Approach
Glanua Ltd. and Irish Water are fully aware of the impact that a construction activity of this size / scale may have on local businesses and from the outset all stakeholders involved in the project delivery were aligned in that community engagement was of the upmost importance. The importance of effective stakeholder and community engagement in the planning and implementation of projects necessitates an understanding of dealing with the host communities and key stakeholders, host communities need to understand the full implications of the project, so that there is an opportunity for concerns to be raised and addressed.
Historically community engagement evenings, pre Covid-19 restrictions would be held in the local community hall / hotel and would provide a platform for local-residents to review the constructions activities and any queries would be answered by the Engineering Staff. Due to Covid-19 this was not possible so all stakeholders were eager that this very important aspect of the project would be delivered with an innovative new on-line platform.
On the 4th of March 2021, an online community engagement evening was held so that the local community and businesses could get an opportunity to review the scale of the works, this online platform provided detailed information on traffic management plans and a detailed overview of the timelines for construction.
As part of the on-line community engagement evening, each construction area was dealt with separately this meant that the 12 areas where construction activities would take place were discussed in detail.
In order to ensure the local community could discuss the construction activities in close proximity to their local residence / business / fishing port, “break out rooms” were set-up with engineering staff from both Glanua Ltd. and Irish Water present to discuss any queries which the local residents / business owners may have had, link to online video:
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6774624762535710720
This was one of the first community engagement events held on-line by both Glanua Ltd. and Irish Water and it was a huge success. The one positive of the Covid-19 pandemic is that this innovative approach could be rolled out on all future projects of the similar size that require community engagement.
Historically it was noted across the sector that these community engagement evenings were, in certain circumstances, controlled by a number of strong personalities and that all personnel present don’t get their opinion/queries across.
With the on-line platform and associated “break-out rooms” all personnel / businesses were allowed to voice their opinions / concerns and it was an extremely positive experience for both the local community and engineering staff alike. All queries that were raised were looked into and responded to accordingly. Additional all attendees were requested, if they so wished, to provide e-mail addresses and weekly e-mails were sent during the construction activity. This e-mail was sent by the project team every Friday and provided a look-back at to what was completed that week with updated drone images, and additionally provided a detailed account of work activities for the week ahead.
In addition to the on-line community engagement and as part of Engineers Week for 2021, Glanua Ltd. and Irish Water held an online presentation for Castletownbere Secondary School, Beara Community School. Our Engineers explained what it is like to work in the Engineering Industry and went through the details of the Castletownbere Sewerage Scheme.
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6775724495765336064
Design and delivery
The existing sewerage scheme consisted of ten independent sewers. Only five of these catchments provided some form of treatment to the collected wastewater through septic tanks, with the outstanding five catchments discharging untreated wastewater. The design of the new sewerage scheme involved combining seven of these sewerage catchments through provision of three gravity sewers and four new pumping stations, and a new wastewater treatment plant with the ability to treat sewerage from a population equivalent (PE) of 2,168. The overall cost of the project was €13 million.
Impact
With the collaborative working environment of the ECI Contracts, all design submissions and material / suppliers are chosen based on collaborative engagement. The overall design for the project provides a safe, efficient, ergonomic and operable system utilizing the principles of prevention in our overall site layout, the equivalent of 1,700 wheelie bins of raw sewerage will be eliminated from being discharged to Bantry Bay every day. Cleaner water will enhance the amenity value of the area and will act as a platform for social and economic development.
The huge importance of the fishing port to the local area from a commercial viewpoint required engagement with the local harbour master and the wider fishing community to ensure that construction activities could be completed while having a negligible impact on the port and its activities. The port of Castletownbere is the largest white fishing port in Ireland, with fishing boats from all over Europe using the deep-water berth of the inner port.
Through interactions with the harbour master, traffic management plans were introduced to accommodate local traffic and ensure the lifeline of the community the local fishing port remained vibrant and unaffected by any of the construction activities in close proximity to the port.
Glanua Ltd. / Irish Water have received very positive feedback from the local community none more so than from Anne Marie Cronin Photography who has a shop on main street in Castletownbere, please see link below:
