Plan to replace protected Athlone sewage structure

By Rebekah O'Reilly

Uisce Éireann is seeking planning permission to upgrade a protected sewage structure on Deerpark Road in Athlone.

The structure, called a vent stack, serves to ventilate and relieve pressure from the accumulations of gasses in the foul sewer network.

At present, the structure is rusted with holes throughout, and it is leaning against the wall of the protected site of the Convent Cemetery, Uisce Éireann said.

It said that the structure has "reached its end of life and requires replacement to ensure that a safe system of venting is available for the existing wastewater collection system in the area".

The vent stack will be removed and replaced by a new vent stack to current Uisce Éireann standards and specifications. Proposed works include an upgrade to associated pipework necessary to connect a replacement vent stack to the existing sewer system and ancillary site works including road reinstatement.

The replacement vent stack will be of similar height to the existing, and will be connected to the existing sewer network via a short section of below ground pipework.

A new filter installed in the upgraded pipework will improve the air quality for neighbouring properties.

While the current vent stack is at the end of its design life, Uisce Éireann has recognised the cultural significance of the vent stack to Athlone.

Once the structure is removed, they have said the vent stack will be made available to the Local Authority for its re-purpose elsewhere.

The National Built Heritage Service said the stack is a freestanding cast-iron vent pipe, erected circa 1885, consisting of cast-iron cylindrical shaft with splayed saw tooth-profiled parapet over fluted cast-iron base section.

It said the vent pipe was "a physical reminder of the development of public services and utilities in the late nineteenth-century in Athlone".

"The pipe now forms a subtle feature in the streetscape and is of some design merit, having been conceived as an aesthetic as well as functional item," it added.