--- title: "Structural Engineers in Westmeath" description: "Structural and civil engineering across Co. Westmeath, from Mullingar to Athlone, from our office in Newbridge, a little over an hour away on the M4." updated: "2026-10-19" url: "https://www.petruf.ie/areas/westmeath" --- # Structural Engineers in Westmeath > Structural and civil engineering across Co. Westmeath, from Mullingar to Athlone, from our office in Newbridge, a little over an hour away on the M4. Westmeath is a little over an hour from the office, up the M4 to Mullingar or across to Athlone. The engineer who visits is the one who designs the job and signs for it, so the drive is made by somebody who will be answerable for what is built. We have worked on both sides of the county. In Mullingar we designed the foundations and the timber structure of a house built from prefabricated straw panels, and at Monksland, on the Roscommon side of Athlone, the roads, drainage and water mains under twenty nine houses. ## What we do in Westmeath ### [Structural Calculations](https://www.petruf.ie/services/structural-engineering/structural-calculations) Extensions, attic conversions and openings in load bearing walls, with a site visit and a fixed fee quoted first. ### [Building Regulations Compliance](https://www.petruf.ie/services/consulting-and-compliance/building-regulations-compliance) Opinions on Compliance for a sale, and design and assigned certification under BCAR. ### [SuDS and Drainage Design](https://www.petruf.ie/services/civil-engineering/suds-design) Soakaway tests on site, and surface water designed for the ground it has to go into. ### [Uisce Éireann Connections](https://www.petruf.ie/services/civil-engineering/irish-water-connections) The connection applications a new house or a housing scheme needs, made as your agent. ### [Roads Design](https://www.petruf.ie/services/civil-engineering/roads-design) Estate roads, entrances and footpaths for housing developments. ### [Flood Risk Assessments](https://www.petruf.ie/services/civil-engineering/flood-risk-assessments) For sites by the Shannon, the lakes and the rivers that feed them. ## Planning and building control Planning applications in the county go to [Westmeath County Council](https://www.westmeathcoco.ie/), at Áras an Chontae on Mount Street in Mullingar. The council is also the building control authority, and commencement notices are lodged with it through the national [Building Control Management System](https://www.localgov.ie/en/bcms). The county is planned under the [Westmeath County Development Plan 2021 to 2027](https://www.westmeathcoco.ie/en/ourservices/planning/developmentplans/), and since January 2026 Mullingar has a [Settlement Area Plan](https://www.westmeathcoco.ie/en/ourservices/planning/developmentplans/mullingarsettlementareaplan/) of its own, made as a variation of it. The regional strategy names Athlone a Regional Growth Centre and Mullingar a Key Town, which is where most of the county's new housing is planned to go. ## The ground in Westmeath Westmeath sits on limestone, laid down as a shallow sea floor more than three hundred million years ago, and much of it is covered by what the ice left behind. The eskers are the county's signature: long ridges of sand and gravel, the Esker Riada between Kilbeggan and Tyrrellspass among them, which drain well and usually take a soakaway. Between them lie the raised bogs, about a tenth of the county, where a foundation has to reach firm ground or be designed for what is there. Two sites a field apart can be on gravel and on peat, which is why a visit comes before a design. We set out what a site investigation finds and what each kind of ground does to a foundation in [What the Ground Decides](https://www.petruf.ie/blog/what-the-ground-decides). ## Flooding The OPW's flood studies picked out Athlone, Mullingar and Kilbeggan for detailed assessment, and the maps are on [floodinfo.ie](https://www.floodinfo.ie/). Athlone has a flood alleviation scheme on the Shannon, and Mullingar's flood relief scheme was finished in 2010. A site near the Shannon, a lake or a river will be asked about flood risk at planning, and the answer is cheaper before the design is fixed than after. ## Towns we cover Mullingar, Athlone, Moate, Kinnegad, Kilbeggan, Tyrrellspass, Rochfortbridge, Castlepollard and Delvin, and the countryside between them. ## Our work in the county ### [Straw House](https://www.petruf.ie/projects/residential/straw-house) A house in Mullingar on prefabricated timber and straw panels, with the foundations, timber structure and connections designed around the system. ### [Ardbrae Park](https://www.petruf.ie/projects/public-infrastructure/ardbrae-park) Twenty nine houses at Monksland, just across the Shannon from Athlone, with the roads, drainage, water main and Uisce Éireann applications behind them. ## Questions from the county ### Do you take on work in Westmeath from Newbridge? Yes. Mullingar is a little over an hour from the office and Athlone not much more. The first call is free, and on it we will say whether the job needs a visit. For structural calculations the visit is part of the job and included in the fixed fee, which is quoted before anything starts. ### Will a soakaway work on my site in Westmeath? On esker sand and gravel it often does. On peat or on stiff clay over the limestone it often does not. Either way it is a test result rather than an assumption: a percolation test on the site, to BRE 365, shows how fast the ground takes water, and the soakaway is sized from it. ### Can I build a house on a site with peat? Often, but not on the peat itself. Peat compresses under load and keeps compressing, so the foundation has to go down to firm ground below it, or the peat has to be dug out and replaced, or the house has to sit on piles. Which one depends on how deep the peat is, which is what trial pits on the site are for. ## Related - [Structural Calculations](https://www.petruf.ie/services/structural-engineering/structural-calculations) - [Building Regulations Compliance](https://www.petruf.ie/services/consulting-and-compliance/building-regulations-compliance) - [SuDS and Drainage Design](https://www.petruf.ie/services/civil-engineering/suds-design) - [Uisce Éireann Connections](https://www.petruf.ie/services/civil-engineering/irish-water-connections)