Proposed Development of Brine Saturation Facility at the Existing Palmerstown Depot – Part 8

Closed21 Dec, 2023, 09:00 - 15 Feb, 2024, 18:00

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South Dublin County Council currently carry out winter maintenance on over 300km of its road network using a dry treatment known as rock salt. To improve the efficiency of this process it is proposed to convert to a pre-wet treatment by introducing brine into the treatment. To enable this conversion, it is proposed to construct a Brine Saturation Facility at the current Salt Depot at Old Dublin Road, Dublin 20.

 

The proposed development is located at the existing Salt Depot located to the North of Junction 2 on the N4, beside the Deadman’s Inn. This proposal is relevant only to the area immediately south east of the existing barn and covers an area of 0.03 hectares.  The specific location is outlined in the attached Drawing LA-11-23. The site has Part VIII approval for the construction of a Mechanical Depot. This proposal is designed so as to have no impact on the delivery or functionality of the Mechanical Depot.

 

Proposals

There is an existing barn for storing rock salt at the Salt Depot in Palmerstown. To the southeast of this it is proposed to construct the Brine Saturation Facility.

The facility will consist of;

  • Water tank (will harvest rainwater from existing barn)
    • Estimated dimensions:  3.5m diameter, 5m height
  • Brine storage tank
    • Estimated dimensions:  3m diameter, 6m height
  • Salt Silo
    • Estimated dimensions:  3m diameter, 10m height
  • Brine Saturator (width:3m, depth: 3m, height: 2.5m)
    • Estimated dimensions:  3m wide, 3m depth, 5m height

 

The whole facility will be constructed on a raised concrete plinth.

A cesspool will be constructed to store any brine run-off.

The facility is to be a sealed unit to prevent any contaminants entering the process and it will be fitted with anti-siphon valves and leak detection alerts.

 

What is Brine and How is it Used

 

The Brine Saturation Facility function is

  • Harvest rainwater from the existing barn
  • Store a fine white salt in the salt silo
  • As required it will mix water and salt in the saturator to form a solution (23% salt,  77% water) which is brine
  • Brine is stored in the brine tank and from there loaded on to tanks fitted to the side of our gritters.
  • During a treatment run we will now spread rock salt and also spray brine

 

Benefits of incorporating  Brine

  • Significant environmental benefits - less salt being spread resulting in less environmental impact and less salt in the water table.
  • Significant Financial benefits arising out of the reduction in the amounts of salt being applied in given winter situations
  • Reduction in Salt Haulage Costs as frequency of salt delivery reduced, also contributing to reduction in our carbon footprint
  • More efficient salting operation arising from the reduction in the spread of salt outside the target zone (carriageway lanes). More longevity on the road surface.
  • Greater operational efficiency as prewet technologies will result in an increase in residual salt levels therefore leading to a reduction in treatment runs. More effective in severe weather and lower temperatures. Prewet can be applied two days before snow arrives.
  • Improvement in the quality of the road environment through a reduction in the use of salt

 

 

 

Themes

part 8 public consultation
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