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Engineering Wonders of Ireland

  • 18-10-2012 7:56am
    #1
    Bigfellalixnaw
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 140 ✭✭


    Anyone here have a favorite structure in Ireland that they believe constitutes as an engineering wonder. I am a fan of the BBC series 'Seven Wonders of the Industrial World' and I have always wondered has Ireland has anything of it owns built heritage that can be hailed as a 'wonder'.
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  • #2
    Pat Mustard
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,554 ✭✭✭Pat Mustard


    Bigfellalixnaw wrote: »
    Anyone here have a favorite structure in Ireland that they believe constitutes as an engineering wonder. I am a fan of the BBC series 'Seven Wonders of the Industrial World' and I have always wondered has Ireland has anything of it owns built heritage that can be hailed as a 'wonder'.

    The ESB Hydroelectric Station, Ardnacrusha, is my favourite.

    It was completed in 1929, and was the largest hydroelectric power scheme in the world at the time, until the construction of the Hoover Dam in the USA.

    It was also one of the largest civil engineering projects in the world, at the time.

    Before it was built, power outages were a common occurrence in Ireland.

    When it was proposed in 1925, the £5m budget was one fifth of the annual national budget at that time. Detractors dismissed the project as a 'white elephant'.

    Upon completion, output at the Ardnacrusha power plant was sufficient to meet the electrical power demands of the entire country. It is still adequate to cater for 2% of demand, today.

    The American Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) stated that it served as a model for large-scale electrification projects worldwide. http://www.ieeeghn.org/wiki/index.php/Milestones:Shannon_Scheme_for_the_Electrification_of_the_Irish_Free_State,_1929

    Further interesting article here: http://www.buildingsofireland.ie/Surveys/Buildings/BuildingoftheMonth/Archive/Name,79,en.html


  • #3
    ciaranmac
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 495 ✭✭ciaranmac


    Off the top of my head...

    Newgrange
    Trim Castle
    Grand Canal
    Bray to Greystones railway
    The Titanic
    Ardnacrusha


  • #4
    Dunphus
    Closed Accounts Posts: 138 ✭✭Dunphus


    ciaranmac wrote: »
    Off the top of my head...
    Bray to Greystones railway

    Brunel's folly ;)


  • #5
    Bigfellalixnaw
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 140 ✭✭Bigfellalixnaw


    The Tralee-Dingle railway perhaps?


  • #6
    Bigfellalixnaw
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 140 ✭✭Bigfellalixnaw


    How about the Ordnance Survey of Ireland? When it was first done in the early-1800's, Ireland was the most accurately mapped country in the world at the time - and all without computers just mathematics and fieldwork.


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  • #7
    harry21
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 519 ✭✭✭harry21


    Bigfellalixnaw wrote: »
    How about the Ordnance Survey of Ireland? When it was first done in the early-1800's, Ireland was the most accurately mapped country in the world at the time - and all without computers just mathematics and fieldwork.

    I am constantly amazed by these maps. The 25" are unbelievable for detail. An enormous feat really.


  • #8
    tricky D
    Closed Accounts Posts: 9,700 ✭✭✭tricky D


    harry21 wrote: »
    I am constantly amazed by these maps. The 25" are unbelievable for detail. An enormous feat really.

    http://maps.osi.ie/publicviewer/ - an amazing resource.

    Turlough Hill is a nice example of engineering the economics of stored energy: store up energy paying at cheap rate and use it charging at the higher day rate.

    This large map of the rail network in its heyday is pretty impressive considering some of the routes like through Donegal. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c4/Old_irish_railways_enhanced.jpg (1.5MB).

    Also Marconi's exploits at Valentia might be worth consideration as they were groundbreaking in their day.


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