OPW Flood alleviation schemes

Irish Steve

Folks,

We're in Ashbourne, and OPW and the local authority are working on a scheme to alleviate local flooding issues that are being caused by a small tributary of the Broadmeadow River.

The area affected is an urban area, and the problems are being caused by a small stream that flows through a number of urban estates in a mix of open channels and culverts. There are a number of small footbridges and estate roads that cross the line, and some of these bridges are protected by grids that are supposed to prevent blockages.

For a significant distance, the channel passes behind a large number of houses, between 2 estates, and in that area, the channel line does not meet the modern requirement by OPW to facilitate access by machine to clean and service the channel, and it's become a dumping ground for all manner of domestic, and commercial waste, along with garden waste, all of which then becomes a problem to the people downstream.

What's being proposed is a upgrade where some sections of culvert will be replaced by larger sections culvert, and some open channel replacing smaller closed culvert. The down side of this plan is that the culverted sections will need grids on them to protect them from being blocked by debris, and according to a presentation given earlier today, the OPW has a "new" design of grid that is not as vulnerable to blockage as their previous designs.

We have grave reservations about ANY form of grid, as if they block , the overflows will end up going in directions that will cause problems to other houses, so I'm looking for photos, and possibly locations of any relatively recent grids that have been installed by OPW or local authorities as part of flood management schemes.

Hopefully, some of the people reading this will have experience of what's been done in other areas by OPW and the local authorities, and we are trying to find out how effective these new systems have been.

Thanks in anticipation