Planning nod for massive wastewater project in Athlone town

The final hurdle has been cleared for one of Athlone’s biggest ever infrastructural projects with the granting of planning permission to Irish Water for the four key elements of a long-awaited upgrade of the town's wastewater treatment system

Westmeath County Council has granted conditional planning permission to Irish Water for elements of the Athlone Main Drainage project, work on which is expected to get underway early next year and be completed within a three-year timeframe.

Planning permission was granted for works at a number of separate locations in Athlone town, including Golden Island; The Quay; Abbey Road, Coosan West; Burgess Park; The Strand; Payne’s Lane and the two Shannon tunnel crossings.

The CPO process to acquire lands and leaveways along the path of the wastewater project has also been confirmed, paving the way for the works to proceed without any further delay.

The Main Drainage scheme, which is one of the biggest projects of its kind outside of the major cities, is designed to improve water quality in Athlone town and its environs. It is also expected to significantly improve water quality in the river Shannon by removing non-compliant sewer overflows which have been the subject of much environmental concern.

The works will include the construction of new higher volume underground pumping stations in Golden Island and Coosan West, almost 3km of new sewers, and the decommissioning and demolition of the existing pumping station and pipework on Abbey Road.

Sewer overflows located at six locations along the river Shannon will be removed and replaced by two new overflows which will be designed to Irish Water standards.

Two main sewer pipes are to be constructed as part of the project, with the first one running almost parallel to the river Shannon from Golden Island north towards the railway, and the second one beginning at Golden Island and running almost perpendicular to the river before branching off west and exiting near the canal.

The majority of the pipes will be tunnelled underground to a depth of between eight and ten metres, which will keep the level of disruption to a minimum.

One of the most talked-about aspects of the new multi-million euro project for Athlone is that part of the pipe network will run under the Shannon river, crossing from east to west.

A tunnel sewer and associated shafts will cross under the river Shannon from the Bigmeadow townsland, between the Quay Road on the western side of the river to The Strand carpark on the east.

Irish Water has admitted that The Strand car park will have to close “for a period of time” to facilitate work on two shafts which have to be installed there, but they have committed to publishing weekly updates to keep the public informed as the project progresses, and also to regular consultation with local business owners.