EU energy project achieves €10m in savings for Dundalk

An EU funded project on sustainable technologies involving communities in Dundalk, Switzerland and Austria has achieved in excess of €20 million in energy savings, €10 million of which were achieved in this area.

These savings were achieved across the public partners including Louth County Council, the HSE, O’Fiaich College, Dundalk Town Council as well as local businesses.  The outcomes of the HOLISTIC Project (Holistic Optimisation Leading to Integration of Sustainable Technologies In Communities) were presented to the international partners at the final project board meeting in Dundalk last night, which was hosted by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) and Louth County Council.

The three international towns involved in the HOLISTIC project were Neuchatel in Switzerland, Modling in Austria and Dundalk.  The six year project, which had a budget of approximately €10 million (over €3m for each community) and leveraged over €50m in additional investment, has enabled the completion of 25 sustainable energy projects across Europe.

Commenting Brian Motherway, Chief Executive of SEAI said: “SEAI has been delighted to partner in the HOLISTIC project which has enabled us to forge strong local and international partnerships. It’s rewarding to see the good sustainable energy work that started in Dundalk is now being replicated in other areas around the country.”

Commenting, Councillor Eamon O’Boyle, Chairman of Dundalk Town Council said: “This was a fantastic project to be involved in where Dundalk benefitted from almost €10 million in energy savings. As a community, Dundalk has led from the front and shown great example by embracing sustainable energy technologies.”

Projects in Dundalk included a pilot of smart meters and home energy efficiency upgrades to Local Authority homes, along with efficiency improvements to the Louth County Hospital and O’Fiaich College.

Dundalk’s Liam Dolan sets new Irish Ironman record

Liam at the finish line in Copenhagen

Dundalk’s Liam Dolan travelled to Copenhagen in Denmark on Sunday to compete in the third running of the Ironman Copenhagen race.

The race, set against the city’s iconic backdrop, saw 2,600 athletes cover the 2.4mile swim, 112mile cycle and 26.2mile marathon race in somewhat changeable weather that was well suited to an Irishman. Dolan is no stranger to races of this length, having previously set a new Irish record of 9:02 back in 2009, when he first attempted a long course triathlon in Austria. Since then the record had been lowered to 8:50, also set in Austria in 2011 by Derry’s Martin Muldoon.

Dolan started the day with a good swim, exiting the water of Denmark’s Amster Stall in 67 minutes before quickly setting out on the bike. The course saw the athletes tackle two laps in and around the north of the country, with a mixture of flat roads and a couple of rolling hills. Despite the high winds on the day, he finished the bike event having averaged an incredible 25mph, taking 4.5 hours. The runners were then quickly laced up for the daunting challenge of a full marathon in and around the iconic city.

At this stage the strong winds were replaced by rain but this did not dampen the atmosphere with the huge crowd. Ticking off the miles at a steady seven minute pace Dolan moved up the field, cheered up by a number of Irish fans scattered throughout the course. No training can really stimulate the feeling of still having 10 miles to go after having been on your feet for eight hours of non-stop swimming, biking and running but Dolan dug deep to complete the marathon segment in three hours flat, to get him home in 8 hours 45mins – a new Irish record by five minutes.

This time saw him finish up in 15th overall and as the third placed amateur. The result was good enough to qualify for the World Championships held in Hawaii every October, an event he has competed in three times previously, but on October 11th he will be swapping the lycra for a proper suit when he marries Annette Dawe of the Avenue Road.

Liam and fiancée Annette Dawe, who he will wed in October

Meanwhile, at Clarke Station

The Plasser & Theurer RM90 Ballast cleaner (781), parked at Clarke Station on Monday afternoon

Check out this picture of the Plasser & Theurer RM90 Ballast cleaner (781), which was parked at Clarke Train Station in Dundalk yesterday afternoon.

A ballast cleaner (also known as an undercutter) is a machine that specialises in cleaning the railway track ballast (gravel, blue stone or other aggregate) of impurities.

Over time, ballast becomes worn, and loses its angularity, becoming rounded. This hinders the tessellation of pieces of ballast with one another, and thus reduces its effectiveness. Fine pieces of granite, like sand, are also created by attrition, known simply as “fines”. Combined with water in the ballast, these fines stick together, making the ballast like a lump of concrete. This hinders both track drainage and the flexibility of the ballast to constrain the track as it moves under traffic.

Ballast cleaning removes this worn ballast, screens it and replaces the “dirty” worn ballast with fresh ballast. The advantage of ballast cleaning is that it can be done by an on-track machine without removing the rail and sleepers, and it is therefore cheaper than a total excavation.

A cutter bar runs beneath sleeper level excavating all of the ballast under the sleepers to a specified, variable depth. A conveyor then moves the ballast into the cleaner, where it gets forced through a mesh by a shaking chamber. Pieces of ballast which are smaller than the mesh size fall through and are rejected, those that are bigger than the mesh are returned to the track along with fresh ballast. Some ballast cleaners have both ballast and spoil wagons attached to it, to which the materials are fed by a series of conveyor belts. Others simply undercut the ballast, and allow for a work train to come through to dump fresh ballast. This process can be done in short possessions, meaning that track life can be considerably extended with the minimum of disruption.

This machine is reported to have cost several million and was imported from Linz in Austria.