The Cill Rónáin Harbour, on Inis Mór island, Co. Galway, has been voted Engineering Project of the Year by the Irish public in an online vote as part of the third Engineers Ireland Excellence Awards in association with ESB, it has been announced.

Joe Murphy from Punch Consulting Engineers, the firm behind the project, said the completed €39 million project had already created huge economic and social value for the residents of the largest of the three Aran Islands.

He said: "The new harbour's benefits are wide-ranging and absolute to the local community. It improves safety for residents, it supports tourist traffic to an island rich in cultural heritage and it even makes life easier for fishermen who have businesses and work locally.

"The project embodies the best of engineering excellence. The facility is sheltered by a stone breakwater which is more than half a kilometre long. The harbour within has a marine working area that is actually twice the size of Croke Park. A large-scale physical model was constructed and tested in a UK hydro laboratory prior to construction at Cill Rónáin to ensure the most economical harbour construction," Murphy said.

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"More than 77,000 tonnes of large natural stone blocks were sourced from Connemara to protect the breakwater from erosion while the piers have been constructed from large concrete blocks up to 23 tonnes in weight. Moreover, significant environmental monitoring was employed throughout the construction process, including a marine mammal observer who was present over the course of the project to watch for seals and dolphins during blasting works."

Speaking at the awards in the Four Seasons Hotel, Dublin, John Power, Engineers Ireland Director General, congratulated Punch Consulting Engineers and BAM Civil who delivered the project and said the construction is now an essential support to the island’s community.

"By improving safe access to the island and providing shelter from the often hazardous ocean waves that have challenged local residents over the ages, the re-developed Cill Rónáin Harbour is a true example of engineering ingenuity dramatically improving the quality of local, every-day lives. The construction benefits the Inis Mór community hugely and, in effect, sustains the strong local heritage of Irish culture and language that is very unique to the island."

(CD/IT)