Inside Pages - SIAC Construction

SIAC NEWSOpening of theA1/N1 approachingfastLast month’s ahead-of-schedule opening of the southernsection of the A1/N1 - Newry to Dundalk Link Road was asignificant achievement and was well received by both theclient and the general public. The opened section extendsthe existing M1 motorway that little bit closer to the borderand consists of 4km of dual carriageway followed by afurther 4km of contra-flow traffic placed on the newlyconstructed southbound carriageway.This sectional opening was necessary to divert traffic fromthe existing N1, allowing the construction team to removethe old road. This was essential for the completion of one ofthe critical interchanges. In conjunction with thisinterchange, 4km of the existing N1 was permanentlyremoved to be replaced by a cycle track and the necessarylandscaping.As the first cross-border scheme setting the guidelines forfuture cross-border contracts, the A1/N1 has had its fairshare of challenges and requirements to satisfy. Wherecross-border relationships are currently at an all-time high,consideration still needed to be given, and designed in, forthe various authorities acting under their own jurisdiction,needs and specifications.Plymouth projectcompleted by SIACTetbury SteelSIAC Tetbury Steel has completed a 900T project at the BallardCentre in the Millbay region of Plymouth. The nine-storey building isdivided into 122 stylish apartments for the client, London and WestCountry Estates. The building is on the site of a municipal swimmingbaths and is part of the regeneration of this vibrant city, offering arange of accommodation from one-bedroom studio flats to threebedroomduplex apartments on the upper levels.Mark Fox (Project Manager, SIAC Tetbury Steel) said the steelerection programme was completed ahead of schedule in early July.He commented, “We divided the programme into halves, and onceone section of the building was completely erected, we were able tohand over to allow the decking to commence.”All the steel was erected by using only three erectors using two 135ftreach cherry pickers. “The grid pattern, although quite complex,wasn’t difficult for us to erect and it worked out very smoothly andquickly,” commented Mark. “Our main challenge was the confined siteand so every load of steel had to be delivered in erectable loads.”The Ballard Centre is scheduled for completion by mid-2008.While the sectional opening was seen as a success, it in noway diverted the main focus of the Northroute JV team fromtheir overall goal which is an opening date of 2 August. Inachieving this date, months ahead of the contractualtimeframe, the site team have pulled out all the stops andare hard at work delivering the project as promised almostsix months ahead of schedule.An open sectionof carriagewaynorth ofBallymascanlan.The grid pattern steelwork being put in place at the Ballard Centre inPlymouth.Syl retires after 52years serviceCongratulations to Syl Croker (Civil Engineering) who has retiredfrom the company after an amazing 52 years service. We profiledSyl in our Autumn 2005 edition of the newsletter when he reachedthe historic milestone of half a century at SIAC. Syl is pictured withhis wife Margaret and Hank Fogarty (Managing Director, SIACConstruction) at his retirement function, which was held in theKillashee House Hotel in Naas, Co Kildare. We wish Syl, Margaretand their family every happiness in the future.10 Summer 2007