Some 70% of Athlone's new sewer network completed

The Strand Car Park is set to become the focal point of the Athlone Main Drainage Scheme Project, work on which is set to run for another 15 months, until the end of 2025.

The massive €114m infrastructural development is one of the largest capital investment projects of its kind in the country, and is on a par with any project in Europe “in terms of its complexity” according to resident project engineer, Tom Curran, who was speaking at a special press briefing on Wednesday, which also included a tour of the Golden Island Pumping Station site.

Ward and Burke Construction Ltd is delivering the project on behalf of Uisce Éireann.

While acknowledging the widespread traffic disruption which has been necessitated as a result of the ongoing infrastructural works in Athlone, representatives from Uisce Éireann and the project team were keen to stress the complexities involved in undertaking works on such a huge scale in an urban environment, and also in a town like Athlone, which has a large number of historical buildings.

“We are acutely aware that we are having an impact out there (in Athlone),” said Tom Curran “but it was never going to be easy, for example we have up to 40 traffic management phases, and we try to give as much advance notice as possible to local businesses and members of the public.”

He added that Meghan Galligan, who is the Community Liaison Officer for the project, “tries to knock on as many doors as possible,” but he pointed out that the nature of the works could mean that the same site would have to be visited “several times over”.

He added that this has led to complaints of reinstatement works “looking unfinished”, but said contractors have often had to “go away from a particular location and then return to complete works at a later date”.

In an effort to minimise disruption, Mr Curran said the contractors had adjusted their working hours in order to finish before the Friday afternoon rush. He also said they had been liaising with residents and community groups, such as Athlone Tidy Towns, TUS, and St Mary's NS throughout the project in order to spread the message of how crucial it is for the future of the town.

Eunan Canavan, Portfolio Manager at Uisce Éireann also acknowledged that constructing a 21st century underground sewerage network “through the heart of a historic, riverside town like Athlone comes with many challenges,” but he reiterated that the highly skilled project team is working hard on the ground to deliver these works “safely and efficiently”.

Mr Canavan said that while most of the construction is taking place underground, using micro-tunnelling in order to minimise disruption, “we recognise that delivering works of this scale can have an impact on the community”.

He thanked the people of Athlone for their “patience and continued support” as works progress what he described as “this vital infrastructure for the long-term benefit of the town.”

The briefing heard that approximately 70% of the new sewer network for Athlone was now complete, with 1.6km of the 2.8km of underground sewer pipes installed, some of which are large enough for a grown adult to walk through.

Further progress on the project – which is designed to reduce the risk of sewer flooding in Athlone and address con-compliant sewer overflows into the river Shannon – will include the completion of open trench work along The Quay and the reopening of the southern end of Burgess Park to the public when works are completed to the emergency outfall to the Shannon.

With works to the southern part of Athlone “mostly completed,” the resident project engineer, Tom Curran, said the focus of the Uisce Éireann project is due to shift to the Strand Road Car Park next month, which is to become “the centre of activity” until mid-2025.

“By the end of this year we will be out of Abbey Road and the concentration will be in the Strand area” he said, with works in this area including the final tunnelling shaft at the rear of Sean's Bar, which is due to begin within the next month.

Among the other planned works over the next six months are the completion of tunnelling on Abbey Road, the completion of works on Paynes Lane and Clonown Road; trial hole and grouting works on Strand Street, and the completion of works to the two new pumping stations at Golden Island and Coosan.

The Golden Island Pumping Station is 30 metres in width and 20 metres deep and can hold four million litres of water at full capacity. The vast bulk of the works are underground, and, when complete, the only part of the facility that will be visible to the public will be the roof.