*Some of the flooding that occurred in the recent past at Shannon Golf Club. Photograph: Joe Buckley
RESIDENTS OF Shannon Town are becoming increasingly concerned with the pace at which flood relief works are moving.
During the development of Shannon Town and the Airport in the 1940s and 1950s, a series of embankments approximately 6km in length were constructed along the north side of the Shannon Estuary to separate the low-lying lands from the tidal waters to the south.
Presently, both the town and Airport remain at risk of flooding from coastal and fluvial sources. The Shannon CFRAM Study Area completed by the OPW, Clare County Council and other local authorities identified Shannon Town & Shannon Airport as an Area of Further Assessment (AFA) and IRR Individual Risk Receptor (IRR) respectively and concluded that a flood relief scheme would be viable and effective for the community.
Last July, RPS were appointed by OPW in partnership with Clare County Council to further assess the CFRAM Study identified options and prepare a detailed scheme for Shannon which is economically viable and environmentally sustainable. The entire scheme will be implemented in five different stages.
Stage I is currently ongoing which has commenced in August 2020. The consultants have received approximately 90 percent of deliverables from third-party surveys. The hydraulic assessment and modelling tasks will be ongoing into the end of 2022 with the finalised Hydraulic Report expected to follow thereafter.
Following completion of the ground investigation works, the RPS geotechnical team have considered some high-level early options for the main coastal embankments.
In his monthly management report, Council Chief Executive, Pat Dowling detailed that maintenance works to the Airport embankments would be ongoing for the remainder of 2021.”As reported previously, progression of works immediately after Christmas will be dependent on weather conditions at that time”.
Speaking at the December meeting of the Council, Cllr Gerry Flynn (IND) stated that concern was growing among Shannon residents regarding the scheme’s progress. “It seems a very long time ago since we met Minister Moran and we were granted money to be ring-fenced for the project”. The pace at which Shannon Airport was “pushing ahead with measures to protect it from flooding, Shannon Town is still vulnerable to the elements,” he flagged. As is stands, residents in Shannon Town cannot get flood relief insurance, he said.
Discussions with the OPW regarding the scheme occur on “an ongoing basis,” Dowling replied. He stressed that there were “significant technical projects” associated with the large capital scheme. “I can reassure you and everybody in Shannon that the project is funded, we’re working to the detailed design, it is technically quite specific, a variety of interventions have to be made, there is no one simple solution for protecting Town and Airport,” he added.
Seán Lenihan of the Project Management Office outlined that it was a five year plan with “a huge amount of work” to be completed. He offered to hold a briefing with councillors in the Shannon Municipal District. “We have a long ahead of us,” he advised. Work ongoing at the Airport relates to repairs and upgrades, “it is not that they are doing work quicker than we are, they are maintaining and repairing existing embankments”.
