Irishenco awarded the contract to Fugro Seacore to perform pile top rock socket drilling for a new quay wall at Killybegs Fishery Harbour. Skilled operatives, equipment and project management were all provided as a package, consisting of 2 x 2 man crews for 24 hour working, 7 days a week and the hire of Fugro Seacore's B5 and Teredo 3 pile top drilling rigs.
The construction of the new quay wall involved reverse circulation drilling inside the 1067mm overburden piles to remove drill materials, and drilling of rock sockets in bedrock below the pile toes, before final driving of the pile to level. The ground was challenging with many cobbles and boulders encountered in the overburden before the hard igneous bedrock sockets were drilled to c. 9m depth. In total 186 piles were installed in 9 months by the main contractor, including Fugro Seacore's drilling works.