Planning consent has been sought for a new cruise berth to cater for the latest generation cruise ships at Dun Laoghaire Harbour, Dublin.
Waterman Moylan was appointed to undertake the masterplanning and preliminary design of this major new facility.
The scheme is designed for 340m long 155,000 GT cruise ships and includes a new jetty, monopile breasting and mooring dolphins and a 2km long approach channel involving 700,000 m3 of dredging.
Our appointment to undertake the masterplanning was subsequently extended to take the design of the project through to the preparation of a planning application and an Environmental Impact Statement.
Project development was advanced in two stages, with an initial option appraisal followed by scheme design in parallel with the Environmental Impact Statement.
The option appraisal included a study of alternative fixed and floating type quay structures, different quay locations and options for dredging that minimise the impact on the existing listed structures.
The scheme design was completed for a fixed jetty structure and an optimised design for the approach channel which minimises the volume of dredging while at the same time providing safe access for the cruise ships. As part of the EIS, various ecological and archaeological surveys have been undertaken, as well as numerical modelling of the harbour to evaluate the potential changes in the wave climate, the current flows and the sedimentation regime and a range of other investigations.
Waterman Moylan was previously responsible for the design and procurement of berthing facilities to accommodate cruise tendering operations in the harbour, and as a result the Harbour received calls from Cunard Lines Queen Mary 2 and Queen Elizabeth in 2013 and has a growing schedule of calls from large cruise ships in 2015 and 2016.
