County: Meath Site name: HIGH-VOLTAGE EAST–WEST INTERCONNECTOR PROJECT – Meath, various townlands
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 10E0155
Author: Martin E. Byrne, Byrne Mullins & Associates, 7 Cnoc Na Greine Square, Kilcullen, Co. Kildare.
Site type: Monitoring
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 688918m, N 762584m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.605548, -6.656417
The high-voltage cable – east–west interconnector project (HVC EWIP) comprises the laying of a high-voltage direct-current east–west interconnector between Ireland and Wales, consisting of a sub-sea cable installed beneath the Irish seabed from the twelve nautical mile limit to an underground transition joint to be located in the carpark at North Beach, Rush, Co. Dublin, and an underground high-voltage direct-current cable section from the underground transition joint in the said car park to an existing 400kV station in the townland of Woodland, Co. Meath (total 44.2km).
The development also comprises the construction of a new converter station located adjacent to the existing ESB 400kV substation at Woodland, Co. Meath, and a 400kV cable bay to be constructed at the existing Woodland substation and all associated works.
In general, the two power cables will be installed in ducts and laid in a trench c. 1.2m deep and c. 1m wide, with a third duct containing a fibre-optic cable, primarily to control the operation of the interconnector. Such works will be largely undertaken along roads/grass verges and occasionally within greenfield areas in the following townlands of County Meath: Rath, Cookstown, Hammondtown, Crickstown, Kilbrew, Loughlinstown, Bodeen, Cabinhill, Flemingstown, Twentypark, Lagore Little, Brownstown, Ballymore, Bradystown, Elgarstown, Curkeen, Commons, Wilkinstown, Powderlough, Raynestown, Rathregan, Portan, Ribstown and Woodland.
All works within greenfield areas or within 50m of recorded monuments require full-time monitoring, while all other works along roads are subject to occasional monitoring. Works in County Meath commenced in early October 2010. To date, a number of post-medieval pottery sherds and clay-pipe stems have been recovered in trench excavations along roads.
Cable-trench excavations are scheduled to continue until early summer 2011 and topsoil-stripping associated with the converter station at Woodlands is scheduled to commence in March 2011.
