Salmon Weir gates

christg

Does anyone know who controls the gates on the Salmon Weir, or if there is a web page that shows the status of the gates and the water level on the Corrib ? Its getting a bit wet here in Menlo.

JohnCleary

christg wrote: »

Does anyone know who controls the gates on the Salmon Weir, or if there is a web page that shows the status of the gates and the water level on the Corrib ? Its getting a bit wet here in Menlo.

There's no web page for live levels.

The gates are controlled by Western Regional Fisheries Board at the building at Fisheries Field.

The level is monitored by a level at Annaghdown, pretty central point on the lake. The level may be very low in Galway, but still high on the upper lake, and vice versa.

Meemars

Not sure exactly, but it's most likely something to do with the Fisheries board, located in Fisheries Field, just on the weir. Give em a call, they might point you in the right direction.

saoranach

OPW control the gates, think all 16 are open at the minute

Zzippy

JohnCleary wrote: »

There's no web page for live levels.

The gates are controlled by Western Regional Fisheries Board at the building at Fisheries Field.

The level is monitored by a level at Annaghdown, pretty central point on the lake. The level may be very low in Galway, but still high on the upper lake, and vice versa.

Can't blame fisheries for that John! Its the OPW. Their drainage division regional HQ is in Headford, can give them a buzz there - they are apparently taking a lot of calls giving out about the flooding today. Nothing they can do though, all the gates at the Weir are open and have been for weeks, there's no other way to let water off unless they opened all the sluices in the canals, and I don't think thats ever been done.

KevR

saoranach wrote: »

OPW control the gates, think all 16 are open at the minute

Someone told me before that when all the gates are open something like 1 million litres of water are flowing over the Weir every second. Obviously it is impossible to get an exact measurement on this but does anyone know if that 1 million litres per second figure is roughly correct or way off?

JohnCleary

Zip - Wasn't blaming anyone! Yeah sorry, it's the OPW who open/close the gates, controlled from the Fisheries office

As was said above, if all gates are open (you can bet your bottom dollar they are!), there's nothing more that can be done. In fairness, the river levels have been kept purposly low lately in anticipation for an event like this

christg

All I know is that the water is just about to come in my back door. The levels have been rising about a half inch an hour since yesterday morning. I'm just hoping that it crests soon. I've never seen it this high in Menlo, and the neighbors haven't either and they've been here over 25 years.

biko

You need sandbags. Check with council, fire dept or civil defence.
Or get them at DIY shops.

Failing that place plastic bags over the opening under doors (from the outside) and weigh them down with whatever you have.

Zzippy

JohnCleary wrote: »

Zip - Wasn't blaming anyone! Yeah sorry, it's the OPW who open/close the gates, controlled from the Fisheries office

As was said above, if all gates are open (you can bet your bottom dollar they are!), there's nothing more that can be done. In fairness, the river levels have been kept purposly low lately in anticipation for an event like this

Hehe, just making sure! Actually they are controlled by OPW staff who work out of the small depot behind the fisheries office. They've been running off a lot of water the last while, think the big floods a couple of years ago caught them out and they've been very conscious of not letting that happen on their watch again. Actually the levels got so low a while ago that the city council had problems getting enough water into the treatment plant to supply the city water supply, so they were kinda overdoing it, but there's nothing more they can do now.

Magnus wrote: »

You need sandbags. Check with council, fire dept or civil defence.
Or get them at DIY shops.

Failing that place plastic bags over the opening under doors (from the outside) and weigh them down with whatever you have.

Sandbags are available from the council depot in Liosban Ind Estate, thats if they have any left!

gary82

KevR wrote: »

Someone told me before that when all the gates are open something like 1 million litres of water are flowing over the Weir every second. Obviously it is impossible to get an exact measurement on this but does anyone know if that 1 million litres per second figure is roughly correct or way off?

There's a big display about it out at the aquarium and I think it says something around the 250,000 litres/second mark ....


There's barely any step in level between either side of the weir today!!

gary82

gary82 wrote: »

There's a big display about it out at the aquarium and I think it says something around the 250,000 litres/second mark ....


There's barely any step in level between either side of the weir today!!

Ah my memory served me fairly well...

http://www.nationalaquarium.ie/exhibition/weirExhibition.php

"At full flood, more than 260,000 litres of river water per second flow down over the Weirs!"

JohnCleary

Guys all gates are open, so nothing more can be done to help the flow on the river Corrib. The level is quite high now at the weir (was just down there), so I imagine it's a lot higher further upstream.

To the poster who is saying water is about to go into their house. As said above, Council depot in Lisbaun (sp?) Ind. Est. is where you get the bags. Civil Defence (Galway City branch) were flat out today in Baninasloe, and could be called to Gort or elsewhere tomorrow. Civil Defence/Fire Station is NOT the place to get sandbags, so don't waste your time going down there to try to get some.

dilallio

Thanks John,
I called the city council to collect bags for the OP who's stranded in his house.
They told me they had filled sandbags and to go to Liosbaun to collect - went there, drove in around and spoke to both security & a few guys there who told me they didn't have anything. Pointed me towards the County Council depot.
Went to the Co Council yard up the road - told me it was the City Council's problem.
I eventually got hold of a pile of empty bags and the lads in Lackagh quarry were really brilliant. Got them filled and in place.

My 12 year old then said:
"What goes up the road, down the road, back the road, and over the road, but never touches the road?
The City Council"

In fairness to them though, there isn't anything they can do in freak conditions like this, and I know they are doing their best to try and keep the main routes open with pumps, etc.

Fair play to everyone who is lending a hand, however small, to help out.

Zzippy

JohnCleary wrote: »

Guys all gates are open, so nothing more can be done to help the flow on the river Corrib. The level is quite high now at the weir (was just down there), so I imagine it's a lot higher further upstream.

Speaking to colleagues there, and they reckon the lake is still a foot lower than the level it reached 2 years ago, the big floods before Christmas 2007, but its rising all the time and may exceed that level over the next few days. Still a lot of water to come down, especially in the Clare River, and only a certain amount of it can flow through Galway. Southerly winds tomorrow (quite strong) that will back the lake up a bit too.

gary82

They've had all the gates open on the weir for a couple of weeks now. Took this two weeks ago and it hasn't let up since...



Must call over for another updated photo because there's a much stronger flow there now since!

higher resolution? make for a great desktop!

Zzippy

gary82 wrote: »

They've had all the gates open on the weir for a couple of weeks now. Took this two weeks ago and it hasn't let up since...



Must call over for another updated photo because there's a much stronger flow there now since!

Nice shot, but there's only 12 gates open in that one, water is a lot higher now!

gary82

Deleted User wrote: »

higher resolution? make for a great desktop!

Could upload a larger one... what resolution?

Altreab

gary82 wrote: »

Could upload a larger one... what resolution?

Maybe upload it to a image site and add the link here. Large resolution would be great Pic is beautiful.

hacktavist

I'd like it in 1024 x 768 if you could but you should just upload the biggest you have so people can resize it themselves. A lovely photo, is that HDR?

joeKel73

Before any confusion, I'm "the old" gary82... changed my username there becuase the whole online anonymity thing wasn't working!! :rolleyes:

hacktavist wrote: »

I'd like it in 1024 x 768 if you could but you should just upload the biggest you have so people can resize it themselves. A lovely photo, is that HDR?

The above is actually already 1024 wide but here's a filled-out wallpaper version....



I don't really want to upload any higher resolution version. And on that not if anyone wants to buy a full resolution print, let me know!

hacktavist

Thank you,is it a hdr image?

joeKel73

Umn well I suppose you could call it a pseudu-HDR panoramic stitch!

About 5 long-exposure photos stitched together. Then processed in HDR software after creating several different copies of the original - adjusting the exposure for each on the computer.

It really is an excellent photo.. Love my desktop now!

http://img692.imageshack.us/img692/1534/picture1sy.png

Thanks

joeKel73

I would have added "Made on a PC" to the image if I'd known!! :cool:

joeKel73

Here's one from Friday night. Barely any step in level over the weir! Was a nice clear night. Might go out and have a look today...

mikemac

My new desktop! And a mac also :cool:

You're talented at this for sure foto joe