Lagan’s continue to impress

The Lagan Group name has become synonymous with the construction and civil engineering industry through many years of hard work and delivering a quality service in every project it has been involved in since being established almost 50 years ago.

Last year, saw the formation of Lagan Construction which is the result of three companies, Charles Brand Ltd, Whitemountain Civils Ltd and Lagan International Ltd merging.

One of the first projects the new firm was involved in was the Port Oriel upgrade and modernization scheme. Port Oriel is also known as Clogherhead Harbour that is County Louth’s main fishing port and is home to the premier prawn fishing fleet in the Irish Sea.
It had been long recognised by the Louth County Council that Port Oriel did require a major upgrading and modernization to combat the years of exposure to high winds. The absence of a breakwater structure meant that storms often engulfed the quay.
A feasibility study was commissioned by the local authority and a preliminary design for the upgrade of the pier to include storm breakwater, pier extension, quay widening and local dredging. This was followed up by site investigation and storm wave modeling for a chosen design.

Following a public procurement process Louth County Council appointed RPS Consulting Engineers, formerly known Kirk, McClure & Morton for the design and preparation of contract.
In March 2004, development work on the port was given the go-ahead by Dermot Ahern TD and planning was sought straight away. The following January Charles Brand Ltd, which was to be later renamed Lagan Construction was awarded the contract.
Contracts manager on the project was Brendan McGarr and he spoke to Irish Trucker about the development and what other projects the company were currently involved in.

“The project at Port Oriel involved the demolition of the end of the existing pier, the construction of a 105 meter extension of the pier and an armoured breakwater on the seaward side using xblocs as the armoured unit,” said Brendan.
“The dredging of the harbour basin is to a level of -4.2m Chart Datum (-7.2m Malin) this allows for improved access at low water. The total volume of material dredged was approximately 44,000 tonnes, with 35,000 tonnes already dredged from the basin.”

The sheet piles used for the construction of the main pile wall are Arcelor PU32 steel piles varying in length from 12m to 20m. A total of 405 piles make up the main pile wall. The width of the finished pier is 15.7m (equivalent to a 4 lane carriageway)
“The overall cost of the project was €15 million. The design and construction of the project has been very specialist in nature involving underwater piling and tidal replacement of the breakwater units, sometimes in very exposed conditions
Lagan Construction carries out high quality civil engineering projects in the water, wastewater, marine, rail, sea defence, power generation, airports, airfields and roads sectors.

This new company offers clients a single strong base of pooled experience and expertise and represents a major force in international civil engineering.
Focused diversification, ambitious expansion, ongoing re-investment, organic growth and a carefully targeted acquisition programme during this time has seen Lagan market presence extend beyond Ireland and the British Isles to Eastern Europe, the Caribbean and Asia-Pacific.

On 1st April 2004 Lagan Holdings Limited was restructured into 5 separate companies, each following more closely its specific industry activities and in 2006 these companies reported a combined turnover of £333m. All companies continue to be privately held by the Lagan brothers.
“We have been involved in many various projects and are currently constructing a wind farm in Wicklow, which would not be the first time the company was involved in a similar development.”
The various Lagan companies rank among the leading civil engineering, construction and materials companies in Ireland. Privately owned, these companies represent a workforce in excess of 1400 employees working throughout the world in markets as diverse as the UK, the Caribbean and Asia-Pacific.

“At Lagan Construction we are committed to providing a service that is second to none. We aim to be the best construction partner, to be the best employer and to deliver the best client service in every sector where we work.
“Our business is driven by the needs of our clients and our people are motivated by providing ever higher levels of expertise. Working with public and private sector clients in our chosen markets across the globe has earned us a reputation for quality and delivering what we promise.”

Operating in key sectors to deliver best value and unrivalled standards of quality and expertise, Lagan Construction’s trained civil engineers and construction specialists’ work with global clients, partners and suppliers to develop technical and innovative infrastructure solutions for projects of all sizes and complexity.

“We undertake contracts through Design & Build, construct only and as consortium partners, with each project adhering to industry best practice for health and safety, quality and environmental procedures. We believe in taking responsibility for our actions as we strive to become a truly sustainable business.