Waterford North Quays Public Infrastructure Project

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BAM was appointed as main contractor for the public infrastructure works on North Quays.
Three elements of construction:

1. Transport Hub and Train Platform
2. Sustainable Transport Bridge
3. Road and Bridge Construction Northside

Transport Hub & Train Platforms

• Integrated transport hub is central to the vision for the project. creating better links between rail, bus, cars, cyclists and pedestrians.
• Train station will have two tracks. Platforms on each track.
• Disabled access via lifts and escalators to all areas.
• Pedestal type construction
• Spacious concourse
• 70m long x 19m wide station building architecturally designed as an iconic structure
• Platform length is 200m on both sides

Sustainable Transport Bridge

This 207m long sustainable transport bridge will give priority to pedestrians and cyclists.he centre span will open to allow river traffic to pass through, and a new driverless electric shuttle bus between the city centre and North Quays will use the bridge.

The bridge has been designed using low-carbon materials and construction methods. BAM, working closely with the client and consulting engineers Roughan & O’Donovan, has successfully reduced the number of steel piles that will be needed to support the bridge: reducing the steel required by 1,500 tonnes compared with the initial tender. All the piles are being brought to site by ship, negating the need for carbon-intensive road haulage.
Low-carbon concrete is also being used for the abutments and piers, incorporating GGBS (a waste product from blast furnaces) into the mix.

Road and Bridge Construction Northside

• 5 Bridges over Rail tracks and Greenway
• 6 Earth retaining structures for elevated roads
• Upgrade of Dock Road, Fountain street and Abbey Road
• New offline roundabout and 1.3 km of dual carriageway from Fountain street to North quay development and Abbey Road
• All associated utility works
• Hard and soft landscaping with flood walls on south plaza
• This work will reduce the reliance on private cars by making it easier to access the area using other means of transport.
• Sustainability at every level

With a focus not just on the outputs from the project, BAM has taken action from the earliest stage to reduce carbon emissions and improve sustainability in its own project activities: putting these issues front and centre in its decision-making.

These covers everything from major considerations – such as using a local supply chain as far as possible – to smaller actions like using electric vehicles on site and equipping the site offices with solar panels and rainwater harvesting.

Waterford City has its own ambitions to be a carbon-free city so all BAM’s actions, large and small, contribute towards this aim.

A nationally significant project

North Quays has been acknowledged as a key strategic site for national social and economic development. So it’s not surprising that in March 2023 Ireland’s Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, joined with key ministers and local government figures to break ground on the historic project.

Speaking at the ceremony, Varadkar said: “It will unlock the North Quays as a place for thousands of people to live, work, shop and visit. It will help Waterford to become a city of scale that can attract more investment, jobs and skills.”