Demolished R&H silos yield 16,000 tonnes of concrete. It’s reused to upgrade the Midleton to Cork railway line.
The old R&H Hall silos gave 16,000 tonnes of concrete which will improve the Midleton to Cork railway. Steel from the silos will also be recycled; the silos stood for 90 years.
Recycling all that concrete is good, saving about 180,000 kilos of carbon dioxide. This equals 55 cars’ yearly emissions, or powering 250 homes, and is like taking 85 long flights.
O’Callaghan Properties has a big South Docks project. Demolition experts, O’Kelly Brothers, worked on this property, knocking down the silos for over a year to reuse the concrete locally.
They had choices for the rubble: landfill disposal was easiest; crushing and reuse was another option. They wanted sustainability if they could.
They worked with O’Kelly Brothers for a year, now moving the material to Irish Rail. This is a double win for sustainability because the material helps a public transport project and all the steel is also getting recycled.
The R&H Hall buildings decayed too much, so they could not be saved or reused directly. Therefore, a new building replaces them, its design recalling the old silos, standing on the same spot.
The R&H site’s revamp links to housing on Gouldings site, on Centre Park Road. Over 1,300 new apartments are planned, along with shops and restaurants, healthcare, a cinema, a creche, green space, and a village square.
Near that, the Odlums site is being updated. This river-facing building, built in 1892, will get 100 apartments. Cafes, bars, and offices are also planned, refurbishing it fully.