Its demolition left tonnes of mass concrete material.

Now almost all of the material from the R&H Hall silos on Kennedy Quay is being re-used, in one of the most significant construction recycling projects undertaken in Cork to date.

Some 16,000 tonnes of mass concrete material will be used in an upgrade of the Midleton to Cork railway line under a series of initiatives undertaken by developer, O’Callaghan Properties.

The re-use of mass concrete demolition material is relatively new in Ireland and is highly regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency. The re-use requires a very rigorous and lengthy crushing, testing and certification process to be undertaken in conjunction with the Agency.

The developers estimate that the re-use of the crushed concrete will potentially save an amount of CO2e emissions roughly equivalent to the emissions generated by the annual average driving of 55 people in Ireland, the electricity consumption of around 250 dwellings a year or the emissions of approximately 85 long-haul flights.

“We had a number of options to deal with the demolition material, the simplest of which was to transport it to landfill. Another option was to crush the concrete and seek to re-use it in a sustainable fashion, locally if possible”, said Brian o’Callaghan, managing director of O’Callaghan Properties.

“We have been working on site for over a year with our demolition experts, O’Kelly Brothers, on all the processes involved and we’re pleased to announce the transportation of the product to the Irish Rail railway line upgrade.

“There is a double sustainability gain in that the material has been converted to a resource to be used in a public transport project. We are glad that all of the steel reinforcement and structural steel from the silos is also being re-cycled.”

The R&H Hall buildings will be replaced by a new sustainable landmark building that occupies the same footprint, making reference in its design to the industrial characteristics of the silos.

Main image: R&H Hall by @aurora.borealice_