A Galway native and advocate of the Galway light rail option GLUAS has been awarded an Outstanding Achievement Award by the Insitution of Civil Engineers.
The recent annual dinner of the Republic of Ireland Branch of the Institution of Civil Engineers, held in the National Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire, saw the announcement of the Outstanding Achievement Awards which recognise the careers of three exceptional civil engineers who have made a significant contribution to Ireland’s infrastructure and the advancement of the civil engineering profession here. Awards were made for 2020, 2021 and 2022, with the accolades for 2020 and 2021 having been deferred due to Covid-19.
The Outstanding Achievement Award for 2020 was presented to the Gluas Light Rail for Galway committee member Murt Coleman, a stalwart of the Irish civil engineering contracting fraternity, renowned not only for his enormous contribution to contracting in Ireland but also for his unstinting voluntary work in the furtherance of the civil engineering profession with Engineers Ireland.
Mr Coleman is a Chartered Engineer and Fellow of Engineers Ireland, with a career in the civil engineering industry spanning almost 50 years. Graduating from University College Galway with a BE in civil engineering, his career spanned four decades at Irishenco, where he was site the agent/project manager.
At Irishenco, he was responsible for the construction of major civil engineering projects including bridges and harbour works in Ireland and Africa. Notable projects include several award-winning bridges (the EastLink and WestLink bridges in Dublin, Mizen Head bridge and the Limerick University bridge over the Shannon ) as well as Howth harbour and marina, Killybegs harbour development, Castletown harbour development, Tory Island pier, numerous marine works in Dublin Port and a dam in Co Donegal.
Murt Coleman is also well known for his commitment to the civil engineering profession through his work with Engineers Ireland, where he has been actively involved with Council and the Executive as an elected member, as chairman of the Finance Committee for eight years and as secretary of the Engineers Club. His contributions to the work of the institution were honoured with a President’s Award at the Engineers Ireland Excellence Awards in 2017.
Nowadays he maintains his interest in engineering through participation as a member of the Engineers Ireland Civil Division committee, where as a contractor he has made a significant contribution to the workings and deliberations of the committee. He also represented the Civil Division as a member of the European Council of Civil Engineers and represents Engineers Ireland on NSAI’s Construction Standards Consultative Committee TC006.
As a member of the Gluas Light Rail for Galway committee, Mr Coleman is a strong advocate and campaigner for light rail as an alternative means of transport that would reduce the chronic traffic congestion and pollution in Galway city.
