Cork Harbour - Remediation to Recreation

Enva are delighted to be part of the exciting transformation and redevelopment of the former Irish Steel plant in Cork Harbour into a public, recreational area that has recently opened to local communities. 

The remediation project of what was previously a toxic and hazardous site is described as one of the largest ever undertaken in Ireland and is being showcased across Europe as best-in-class.

Haulbowline Amenity Park is now enjoyed by members of the public and comprises a 22-acre amenity and recreational site with 4km of harbour side walkways, 1km jogging circuit, picnic sites and seating areas for taking in the impressive Cork Harbour views. The park has also been extensively landscaped with over 200 trees and wildflower meadows.

Haulbowline Island, near Ringaskiddy, was the location of Ireland’s only steelworks which operated between 1939 and 2001. From the early 1960s, waste from the steel production process was deposited on an area of reclaimed foreshore, which became known as the ‘East Tip’. The East Tip predominantly comprised stockpiles of waste slag and mill scale throughout the 9 hectare site.

Cork County Council spearheaded the rehabilitation programme of the former East Tip of the Island. Acting as Agent to the Minister of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, they appointed and awarded the site remediation contract to a consortium led by PJ Hegarty & Sons Ltd. The works included marine elements to prevent tidal incursions to the site, access and infrastructure works and capping the waste materials to render the site safe, stable and suitable for future recreational uses. 

Enva were the Slag and Metal Recovery partner working with PJ Hegarty & Sons Ltd. Enva designed and delivered the slag processing and metal recovery and the environmental monitoring of these activities. Over 50,000 m3 of slag material was processed on site under the Enva contract in 6 months, following an intensive 18-to-24-month design and material trial phase leading up to the on-site operations.

The experienced Enva project team developed a tailored waste recovery process to maximise recovery of waste materials as engineering grade backfill, minimising offsite disposal requirements and negating environmental nuisance during processing works to provide an optimum and cost-effective solution. 

Throughout the project detailed environmental monitoring was carried out on dust, noise and vibration and an Asbestos management plan was put in place.

For further information on our process, please see link to case study here.

You may be interested to view this video which shows the project journey: The Haulbowline Journey

Drone coverage courtesy of Magnify