Work restarts on baths, but no plastic in the concrete this time
WORK on the €10m redevelopment of iconic Dun Laoghaire baths is to resume next week following the spillage of at least one million plastic shards into the sea.
SIAC was working on the project for Dun Laoghaire/ Rathdown County Council when the plastic fibres washed into Dublin Bay on November 2 last year, forcing work on the multi-million project to be brought to a halt.
Shards were washed up on several beaches along the south and north of the Dublin coastline.
The spillage occurred while workers were pouring concrete into the site.
A clean-up operation of the shards has been continuing over the past three months.
The Sunday Independent understands that investigations into the concrete affected by the release of the plastic microfibres at the baths have now confirmed its structural integrity.
SIAC/Mantovani Joint Venture, who are the main contractors for the construction of the project, will be resuming work on the jetty in the coming weeks.
When work restarts, concrete containing plastic microfibres will not be used in underwater concrete work.
It has been estimated at least one million shards seeped into the Irish Sea, with many still washing up on nearby beaches.
The incident took place on the evening of November 1 when thousands of kilograms of small, plastic thread-like fibres that had been poured into the base of the newly constructed jetty in Scotsman’s Bay did not set and were washed out by the tide.
The following morning swimmers found themselves wading through the plastic threads that had washed up along the Forty Foot coastline and Sandycove beach area.
Former Cathaoirleach of the Council and general election candidate Cormac Devlin, who took part in the clean-up operation, said: “It is extremely alarming that this happened in the first instance. However, I believe the council took the necessary steps in ensuring that a new work practice was found to ensure that plastics were not used again, which allows work to resume on the jetty.
“While this serious incident has slowed the project down somewhat, I am pleased that works will resume so that the public can see further progress being made on this prominent and important landmark coastal site.
“It was a devastating blow for Dublin Bay, not least considering that the Dublin local authorities had heavily invested in the promotion of the Unesco Dublin Bay Biosphere and here were hundreds of thousands of these plastic threads having been released into the bay.”
Dun Laoghaire Baths date back to 1843 and operated until 1997.
The site has remained derelict for over 12 years until an acceptable plan was found and approved.