What does Cork need?

I think we need to be saying to TD's that delivering on flood prevention infrastructure in Cork City will be key to them retaining their seats.

This endless flooding's not really good enough and could be prevented with a tidal surge barrier somewhere in Tivoli

The proposals I've seen so far are all quite intrusive i.e. building dykes and embankments and fielding around with culverts in the city centre.

The problem is the tide comes in. Stop that, and you stop the problem with zero disruption to the city centre or any messing with people's views, ugly walls etc.

The problem's also very complex as the city centre's incredibly porous. To make it flood proof would be a huge operation involving walls and barriers.

A tidal barrier would just prevent the water coming up during high tide. Problem solved - city centre left intact!

It was done in Hull in England for example, which is a city that isn't THAT much bigger than Cork.
We don't need something like the Thames Barrier. It could be achieved with a simple solution just downstream of the city centre really, probably coupled with hiring the walls on the Lower Glanmire Road and improving the embankment on the marina (which could be coupled with a nice re-development of the walkways and improving public lighting etc.)

Fabio wrote: »

Flood protection is often a lot more complex than that though. The water has to go somewhere. Block it in one place and it'll come up in another. Look at New Orleans and the levees...

True, but you can't really have it coming up in the city centre as it's doing millions upon millions of Euro of damage every time.

Cork's situation isn't river flooding like much of the flooding that occurs in the midlands. It's caused by a situation where water's driven up the harbour during circumstances where you get a high tide coupled with usually SE winds that cause a 'bulge' on the body of water and force it up the river into the city centre.

It's pretty much pure tidal flooding. Putting a barrier in place will be far less likely to cause issues downstream as all that's down stream is a big harbour. You would need to ensure that the embankments along Tivoli, Glanmire and the Marina/Blackrock/ Mahon area were enhanced and maintained properly though along with ensuring the walls on the Lower Glanmire road were higher.

The incident in 2009 was a freak one and was caused by the dam being opened as it had reached a dangerous water level. That was actual river flooding and we need to figure out why that happened and put measures in place to ensure it absolutely never happens again. The dam system should be there primarily to prevent flooding of the city, and only generate electricity as an incidental byproduct of that.

Dealing with river flooding's FAR more complicated as if you protect one area, the river bulges further up stream and you end up with flooding into other areas, so you actually have to designate flood planes.
That isn't the case in Cork as it's purely tidal.

Also, the fact that Cork City's actually in a river delta with quite a narrow discharge and the flooding comes from the sea, not the river, should make it really simple to solve as you don't have to deal with coastal flooding and you have somewhere to 'put' the flood water i.e. the harbour.

You're really talking about raising a tidal barrier only an hour or so before high tide to prevent a surge, then lowering it again so it has minimal impact on anything really other than that it prevents a storm surge / tidal surge.

..

Ideally, I would like to see a Lee Valley Flood & Cork Harbour Management Agency that would have control over flood planning including the dam system + any tidal barrier system.

It's crazy having the ESB managing the dams and the City Council trying to do everything else and the County Council involved further up stream and the OPW jumping into the middle of all that.

A small, efficient, effective agency with the correct expertise and power to do get this stuff right would save the city millions every year.

Realistically, we need something like the Environment Agency in the UK has only perhaps ironing out some if its issues if we do make a copy of it, with some regional offices managing serious flood risk areas like Cork City, Limerick, Dublin City and areas of the midlands.

The current system is totally ineffective as there are way too many agencies and budgets involved.

I was really quite concerned when I saw the OPW's proposals for Cork City as they don't include a tidal barrier and look more like what you'd expect to see for dealing with river flooding.

I don't know if that's a budgetary issue that's preventing them considering a major piece of infrastructure and they're just looking to do a patch-up job, or if they're just making a very strange decision.

I would be loathed to go messing around with the culverts etc in the city centre as you could have some very unintended consequences.

Missyelliot2 wrote: »

Someone should try to stop the halt of businesses closing down in the City Centre.

Stop the extortionate parking charges.

Fill in a few potholes.

For a start......

The enormous rates would be the major factor!

They do fill in potholes. Three lads pour in hot tar and gavel into the holes from a van. This is done without closing the lane to traffic !

Pot holes should be filled and patched properly !