Milltown, Claregalway sewerage schemes go to tender

By TOM GILMORE WORK on the construction of plants for the Claregalway and Milltown sewerage schemes could commence early next year following the announcement yesterday (Tuesday) by Minister for the Environment Phil Hogan that he has given approval to invite tenders for the Design Build Operate (DBO) contract of both schemes. The Minister says the contracts to commence construction during the period of the programme will be at an estimated cost of €10.68 million for the Wastewater Treatment Plant Contract and €2.87 million for the network contract.[private] It will now be a matter for Galway County Council to advance the Wastewater Treatment Plant Design Build Operate (DBO) contract to construction as quickly as possible. Work on installing the pipe network is almost complete in Claregalway and good progress is being made in Milltown regarding the installation of the pipes. A spokesperson for Galway Co Council says that the design, building and operation of the treatment plants are more complex processes. Even though the Minister has now approved the invitation of tenders it will be another six months before they can make an announcement regarding the successful tender or tenders. â€Å“A shortlist of tenders is already in place and now that the Minister has given it the ok to proceed we can issue tender documents to them. â€Å“This is usually a three month process and after that there will be another three months of assessing the tenders before the successful contractor or contractors are appointed. As it is a 20 year contract it is a complex one but we would hope that construction can start during the first quarter of 2014,â€Â says the spokesperson. Minister Hogan says that when completed it will greatly expand the quality and scale of the wastewater infrastructure in the county and will provide capacity to support economic growth and to facilitate new development, while also preserving environmental and water quality standards. â€ËœÃ¢€ËœI understand work is already underway on the Network Contract, for which I approved funding of just over €1.33 million in August last year and is progressing rapidly. â€Å“The financial support from my Department for this project reflects the commitment for continuing investment in our wastewater schemes to ensure that discharges into our rivers, lakes and coastal water meet the highest international standards, â€Âsaid Minister Hogan.[/private]