Shell E & P Ireland Ltd Corrib Terminal: Bellanaboy Bridge

Earthworks Plating Report

11. EARTHWORKS CONSTRUCTION SEQUENCE

11.1 General
This sectionoutlines the sequenceof constructionactivities for the earthworksphaseof the
developmentof the Bellanaboysite for the period from commencementon site to the
completion of the earthworks.In summary,this phaseincludes:
l Establishing accessinto the Bellanaboy site,
l Improving drainageon the site andinstalling settlementponds,
l Excavation and removal of peat from the Bellanaboy site,
l Creationof the Terminal Platform,
l Provision of temporaryconstructionfacilities, and
l Upgradingof emergencyaccessroads.
The peatremoval sequenceis basedon recommendationsby Bord na Mona becauseof their
particular expertisein peathandling, and their requirementsfor peatquality prior to reception
at the depositionareaat Srahmore.The transportationof the peat from the site andthe

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receptionof the peatat Srahmoreis not coveredhere. ru
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11.2 Seasonal Impacts

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For the purposeof examining the seasonalimpact on the site development,the earthworkscan
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be divided into two principal activities: the removal of peat from the site andthe cut and fill of
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mineral soils androck within the site.

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The removal of peatfrom site essentiallycomprisesexcavation,windrowing andoffloading of

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the peat.Excavatedpeat is to be windrowed for 8 daysbeforebeing offloaded from the site by

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truck the purposeof which is to removeas much free-waterfrom the peat aspossible.The
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windrowing, offloading, andreceptionat the depositionsite areweatherdependent.This will

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introduceperiodsin the peat excavation,removal and receiving activities when Shell and
Bord na Mona will agreeto suspendthe works until the weatherimproves.
The cut andfill of mineral soils within the site is also likely to be weatherdependent.The
lower the moisture contentof this material, the easierit will be to handle,place andcompact.
The cut andfill of rock andimported fill, will be less dependenton weatherbut the scopefor
this work is likely to be limited over the winter period.

11.3 Upgrade of Public Road Haul Route

The first activity associatedwith the removal of peatfrom the site is the upgradingof the
R314 andL1204. It is assumedthat the earthworkscontractorwill not carry out this work.
Theseworks will impact on the earthworksconstructionsequence,asthey will definethe first
datethat peatcan be removedfrom site.

11.4 Site Works

It is expectedthat the earthworkswill take placeover two constructionseasons,with little
activity over the winter period. In summarythe sequenceof constructionactivities is as
follows.

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The first activities on site will be the improvement of drainage, the upgrading of &&access to
the site, and the commencement of the truck parking area. Next, the access to the semement
ponds and administration building platform will be established. The wind-owing and removal
of peat will commence once the .public mad haul mute has been upgraded. During tlie early
stages of the removal of peat from the site, tie settlement ponds will be excavated a& the peat
arisings will be windrowed. The windrowing of the peat will take place on a minerai soil
surface in the north-eastern corner of the terminal platform. Once the removal of peat has
commenced, this will expose mineral soils and rock, which can be excavated and us&d as fill
within the site when required. Any surplus or unusable mineral soils will be removed from
site. To allow civil and mechanical w&s to take place in the terminal over the win&- period,
an area of approximately two hectares in the north-eastern corner of the terminal platform will
be excavated to the finished level of 33.4mAOD before the end of the first earthworks season.
The removal of the remainder of the peat from the terminal platform in the second earthworks
season will then allow the cut and fill works on the site to be completed.
This sequence is explained in more detail below.

11.4.1 Upgrade of Public Road Haul Route

The first activity associated with the removal of peat horn the site is the upgrading of the 0
R3 14 and L 1204. These works will impact on the construction sequence, as they will define
the first date that peat can be removed fi-om site.

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11.4.2 Install Temporary Accommodation ru
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The necessary construction site accommodation and welfare facilities will be installed.
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Initially these will be relatively small scale for the earthworks crew.
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Il.43 Install monitoring

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Before any earthwork activities take place on site, piezometers, inclinometers and settlement
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plates will be installed to allow constant monitoring of the groundwater levels and ground
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movement in and around the site, particularly north and south of the terminal.
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11.4.4 Install Dewatering Wells

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The dewatering wells will be drilled in two main lines across the terminal footprint. This will
assist in drawing down the water table and over time reduce the moisture content of the
mineral soil that will be excavated, increasing its workability.

11.4.5 Upgrade Existing Drainage and Silt ponds

Inparallelto~~upgra~gofthe
accesstoth~
site,the
exisfing
dinage
channels
onthe
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will be configured-to cater for the construction work and the silt ponds at the western end of
the drains will be augmented. An existing drain within the firebreak to the south of the
terminal platform and a deep drain to the east of the track on the western edge of the terminal
will be upgraded to act as catch drains. Any drains adjacent to areas of the works will be
augmented and temporary silt ponds will be installed as required.

11.4.6 Establish Main Access Road to the Site

The first activity at the Bellanaboy site following the granting of planning will be the
preparation of adequate and safe access to the site. This will involve the widening of the
entrance to the site Corn the R3 14 and the upgrading of the main access road between the
R3 14 and the eastern access road to the Terminal Platform. This upgrading will have to be
completepriorto thecommencement
of significantheavytraffickingonthe site.
The upgrading of this road will involve the strengthening of the in-situ peat, the installation of
sheet piles and the importation of geotextiles and fill. The strengthening of the peat involves

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Earthworks Planning Report

the mixing of a binder with the peatto form strengthenedcohnnnsor blocks thereby
increasingthe compressivestrengthof the peat.The strengthenedareasarethen cappedwith a
layer of heavy-dutygeotextileand imported stone.The edgesof the road will be sheetpiled to
provide additional containmentto the strengthenedpeat.The geotextileand stonecanbe
placedon the strengthenedpeatcolumns almost immediately following the installation of the
columns.
It is envisagedthat the upgradingworks will startat the entranceat the R3 14 and work
northwards.The accessroad will be 15m wide betweenthe R314 andthe Administration
Building Access Roadand 10m wide from thereup to the easternaccessroad to the Terminal
Platform. Therewill be a period at the startof theseworks where accessto the site from the
R3 14will be restrictedto light vehicular traffic.

11.4.7 Establish Truck Park

In parallel with the upgradingof the Main AccessRoad,a truck parking areawill be
establishedto the west of the main accessroad.The truck parking areawill consistof a
concreteslab supportedby ODEX piles Which will be castin situ. The piles will be installed
througha piling platform createdusing imported fill on strengthenedpeat.The peatwill be
strengthenedusing a similar techniqueto that usedin the Main AccessRoad.The peat
strengtheningwill commenceat the edgeof the existing north-southrunning track heading
west, all the time working from the fum foundationbeing created.

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Oncecompleted,this truck park will provide the necessaryareafor haulagetruck parking,
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offices, and storageuntil the TemporaryConstructionFacility hasbeenconstructed.A part of

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the truck park areawill ultimately becomethe permanentcar park for the Administration
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Buildings.
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11.4.8 Establish Settlement Pond Access

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Following the completion of the Main AccessRoad, a new entranceinto the site will be
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openedfrom the R314,through an existing entranceif possible,to gain accessto the

settlementpond location. The sameconstructionmethodologywill be usedhereasis usedin
to

the Main Access Roadexceptthat the road will only be 8m wide.

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The accessroadto the settlementpondswill be continuedaroundthe perimeter of the two

settlementpondsand extendbetweenthe pondsto provide permanentaccessto the pondsfor
both the constructionandmaintenanceperiods.In this way, the sheetpiling at the edgeof the
accessroad will also form the edgeof the settlementponds.
A small temporarylaydown/turningareamay be createdadjacentto the settlementpond
access.

11.4.9 Establish Administration Building Access Road

Following the completion of the truck park, the Administration Building AccessRoad will be
established,extendingfrom the Main Access Roadto the south-easterncomer of the Terminal
Platform. This roadwill be 10m wide and be of similar constructionto the Main AccessRoad.
This road will ultimately be the main point of accessto the Terminal Platform.

11.4.10 Establish 1 ha Temporary Construction Facility

Upon completion of the Administration Building AccessRoad, similar techniquesof peat
strengtheningand sheetpiling will be employedto createthe Temporary ConstructionFacility
(TCF). A heavyduty geotextile will be laid over the strengthenedpeatandoverlaid with rock.

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11.4.11 Establish Administration BuiIding PIatform

After completing the TCF, the Administration Building Platform till be establishedi The
platform will be established by strengthening the peat, installing sheet piles around the edge of
the platform and placing fill on top of the strengthened peat to provide a level p&f&m on
which the administration buildings can be built. Any structures built on the Administration
Building Platform will be on piled foundations taken through the strengthened peat to the
weathered bedrock.

11.4.12 Upgrade Emergency Access Roads

The emergency access roads to the north and west of the site will be upgraded usingla
combination of peat strengthening and placing of mineral soils available from the egcavation
in the Terminal Platform. The roads will be completed as excavated material becomes
available from the terminal.

11.4.13 Install Gabion Walls

Gabion walls will be installed along the line of the top of the cut slopes of the term&l
platform in advance of the excavation of peat. The gabions will be founded on mineral soils
and will retain the peat as a permanent feature of the terminal as the site is excavated.

11.4.14 Initial Excavation of peat from NE Terminal Corner

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The peat will be removed firstly from an eastern access road to the Terminal Platform and
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then progressively across the area of the north-eastern comer of the Terminal Platform
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working in a westerly direction.

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At the early stages of peat excavation there will not be an area of exposed mineral soils
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available for windrowing the peat. Windrowing consists of excavating peat from the existing
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peat blanket and placing into linear stockpiles on a mineral soil foundation using excavators.
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The linear stockpiles, or windrows, could be up to 3.5m in height at the centre. Bord na Mona
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have indicated that the peat located in the north-eastern quadrant of the site, which is thinner
and drier than much of the rest of the peat over the terminal platform, should be of a sufficient
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quality to be loaded into the haulage trucks for transfer to the Srahmore deposition site
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without windrowing.
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Gradually, this activity will expose the mineral soils providing an area where peat can be
windrowed prior to removal and where a truck loading bay can be established.
It is envisaged that offloading of the better peat, without windrowing, is likely to continue for
a period of approximately 10 days, by which time a sufficient area will have been cl&red of
peat to allow some windrowing to take place. There would then be a period of a f&her week
over which some peat would be windrowed and some would be offloaded without
windrowing - this is because there would not be a sufficient volume of windrowed peat
available at this stage to meet a daily offloading rate of 4,000m3.

11.4.15 Windrow Excavated Peat from Settlement Ponds

Once there is a windrowing area created within the Terminal Platform, the peat from inside
the sheet-piled settlement ponds will be excavated, transported to the Terminal Platform,
mixed with peat coming from within the terminal, and windrowed.

11.4.16 Excavation of Peat to Windrows

Any further peat being excavated from the site will be windrowed prior to offloading from the
site.
The peat will remain in the windrows for a period of 8 days (with the more time available for
windrowing the better). Working on the assumption that 4,000m3 of peat will be excavated to

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the windrows in eachworking day, the windrow areawill thereforehaveto be capableof

storing approximately28,000m3of peat at any one time. Assuming an averageside-slopeof
1:2 for the windrows, an areaof approximately 16,000m2would be requiredto storethis
volume of peat.It may be feasibleto achievea greaterside-slopefor the windrowed peatbut
the potential areasavedby this may be offset againstproviding limited accessbetweenthe
windrows.
An areafor a truck loading bay is alsorequired.It is assumedthat the truck loading bay will
measurethe equivalentof 1OOmby 30m. This implies that a total arearequiredat any one
time to facilitate the peatremoval operationswill be of the order of two hectares.
The windrowing areawould graduallymove acrossthe site (aswould the truck loading bay)
asthe peat excavationfront moves west.
The orientationof the windrows shouldbe suchthat natural drainageis achievedbetween
them. Free drainagefrom the windrows will be maintainedat all times.

11.4.17 Excavate Mineral Soils from the Terminal

Once a sufficient areaof the Terminal Platform hasbeenstrippedof peatto allow the peat
removal activities to proceedunhindered(i.e. an areagreaterthan 2 ha) it will become
possibleto commencethe excavationof mineral soils from the north-easterncornerof the
Terminal Platform.

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The excavatedmineral soil will be usedfor upgradinginternal accessroadsand other
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facilities. Any surplusor unusablemineral soils will be removedfrom site asrequired.

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Prior to the cessationof works beforethe first winter season,it is intendedthat an areaof
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approximatelytwo to threehectareswill be excavateddown to the finished terminal level of

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33.4mAOD. This will requirethe excavationof approximately 120,000m3of mineral soils. A

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further volume of rock beneaththe mineral soil will alsobe excavated.This excavatedmineral
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soil androck will be usedasfill to createthe Terminal Platform as it becomesavailable.

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11.4.18 Install Southern Perimeter Sheet Piles

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Startingfrom the Administration Building AccessRoad, a line of sheetpiles will be installed

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along the southernedgeof the Terminal Platform in advanceof the fill of the platform. The
sheetpile wall will provide temporaryrestraintto allow the peatto be excavatedand replaced
with fill material. It will also allow a groundwaterdrainto be installed alongthe southern
perimeter of the platform.

11.4.19 Excavate Rock from Terminal and Commence Fill of Platform

Prior to the cessationof works beforethe frst winter season,it is intendedthat an areaof
approximatelytwo to threehectareswill be excavateddown to the finished terminal level of
33.4mAOD. This will requirethe excavationof approximately30,000m3of non-intact and
intact rock. Blasting will not be requiredto excavatethis rock.
This rock hasbeenallocatedfor usein the fill of the Terminal Platfom. Since someof the fill
of the Terminal Platform will not take placeuntil the secondseason,a portion of this rock will
be stockpiledover the winter period. It is estimatedthat an areaof approximatelyonehectare
within the Terminal Platform will be requiredfor this stockpile.

11.4.20 Early Civil Works

To provide spacefor civil andmechanicalworks to take placewithin the terminal over the
first winter season,prior to the cessationof earthworksbeforethe winter, a sufficient areaof
peat would have to be clearedto allow for the civil works area,an areafor storageof rock
material, and an areafor windrowing andoffloading peatat the beginningof the second

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season. This would require an area of approximately six hectares of peat to be removed, the
equivalent of approximately 200,000m3 of peat.
The area of excavated peat will also have to be left in such a condition that it wiII be fully
drained over the winter period.
It is intended that civil and mechanical works will commence during the winter period when
earthworks activities in the Terminal Platform have been halted.

11.4.21 Second Season

After the cessation of earthworks over the winter period, once the weather permits, the
offloading of peat will recommence. The windrowing of peat will take place in advance to
build up a stock of windrowed peat for offloading.

11.4.22 Completion of Offloading of Peat

The peat w-ill be excavated, windrowed and offloaded in the same manner as before @iI all
peat has been cleared from the Terminal Platform area. Civil and mechanical works will still
be taking place at this time. The earthworks contractor will utilise the Administration Building
Access Road for the offloading of peat instead of the eastern access road to the Terminal
Platform for this period.

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11.4.23 Completion of Terminal Platform
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As the peat is being removed fi-om IeveIs beIow the finished IeveI of the TerminaI Platform, it
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is replaced immediately with rock and mineral soil till. The sheet pile wall installed
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previously will provide temporary support to facilitate excavation of the peat. The s&them
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edge of the till area will be reinforced with geotextile.

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In parallel with the completion of the fill of the Terminal Platform, the permanent surface and
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groundwater drainage for the terminal wiI1 be completed and tied into the settlementponds.
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Shell E & P Ireland Ltd Corrib Terminal Bellanaboy Bridge
Earthworks Planning Report

12. REFERENCES

1. March 2001 to February2002Minerex EnvironmentalLtd - Site InvestigationWorks

2. April to May 2001, Irish GeotechnicalServicesLimited - Site InvestigationWorks
3. April to May 2001,Irish Drilling Limited - Site InvestigationWorks
4. July to November 2002,Fugro Limited - Site InvestigationWorks
5. August 2003,Lankelma SeacoreOffshore(L-SO)- Site InvestigationWorks
6. November2003 - ongoing,Irish Drilling Limited/Lankelma/Fugro- Site Investigation
Works
7. British StandardsInstitute (1981). BS 6031:1981 Codeof practicefor Earthworks
8. British StandardsInstitute (1995).BS 8006:1995Code of practicefor reinforcedsoils and
other fills.
9. British StandardsInstitute (1981). BS 6031:1981 Codeof practicefor Earthworks

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10. British StandardsInstitute (1994).BS 8002:1994Code of practicefor Earth Retaining
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Structures
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ui es

11. British StandardsInstitute (1997).BS 81lo- 1:1997Codeof practicefor Strnctu.ralUse of

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Concrete.
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ow ion

12. Eurocode7 Draft (1997).GeotechnicalDesign - Part 1: GeneralRules.

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ig pe
yr ns

13. Telford, Thomas(1986).FoundationDesign and Construction

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14. Padtield andMair (1984).Design of retainingwalls embeddedin stiff clay

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15. NRA Specificationfor Roadworks

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16. Design Manual for RoadsandBridges (1995):HA 44/91 Earthworks- Designand

Preparationof ContractDocuments
17. EuroSoilStab:CT97-0351. Developmentof designand constructionmethodsto stabilise
soft organicsoils. ProjectNo.:BE 96-3177
18. GeotechnicalInterpretativeandDesign Report- AGEC September18 2002.

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