Engineering, environment and design consultancy Sweco’s Cork office has secured places on three national frameworks and a contract to deliver a major road improvement project.

Environmental, economic and engineering appraisal services


The business will support the delivery of the N/M20 Cork to Limerick upgrade, which will see Sweco deliver environmental, economic and engineering appraisal services throughout the project’s planning and design phases, in partnership with consultants Barry Transportation and WSP. The five-year scheme – a flagship project for Limerick and Cork County and City councils, Tipperary County Council, the Department of Transport Tourism and Sport and Transport Infrastructure Ireland – began in March 2019, and will improve journey times and strengthen economic ties between the two cities. Sweco has also secured places on a number of frameworks. It has been appointed to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) four-year Substance Reporting Unit alongside project partner Miltcon Services, and its Environmental Licensing Programme framework. This will see Sweco provide technical assistance to the EPA on hazardous waste management and substance control schemes, provide support in the environmental impact assessment process, and deliver by-product, end-of-waste and circular economy consultancy services for public sector projects across Ireland. Its appointment to the Transport Infrastructure Ireland Pavement Asset Repair and Renewal Schemes Framework will see the firm provide consultancy on opportunities to reduce the economic and environmental costs of damaged pavements across Ireland’s national road network. John Nolan, director of Ireland at Sweco, said: “Since opening our doors in 2017, we have been continually working to build out a multi-disciplinary team in Ireland and enhance our expertise across several sectors, and these new projects represent key wins for us.

'Creating a Cork-Limerick ‘twin city’ region'


“The N/M20 scheme will see us deliver best-practice environmental planning and appraisal services. Creating a Cork-Limerick ‘twin city’ region, the new route will deliver significant social and community benefits and create an estimated 5,000 new jobs. “In addition, our three framework wins recognise the strength of our expertise in delivering environmental, sustainability and infrastructure consultancy. We will be collaborating with and leveraging the extensive knowledge of our partners across the international Sweco network, implementing best practice solutions on projects across Ireland.” The wins follow a series of other framework appointments for the Cork office, including to the Transport Infrastructure Ireland Technical Consultancy Services Framework for the planning stages of road schemes with estimated construction value of greater than €20 million, and the Department for Infrastructure’s four-year Major Works Consultancy Services Framework in Northern Ireland. The team is also delivering a new telemetry system network for Irish Water across its national portfolio. Sweco employs more than 850 people and consults on projects across the UK and Ireland via its network of 14 regional offices.