Revised end date of early 2025 for Athlone flood defences

The September meeting of Athlone Moate Municipal District was told that the anticipated completion date for the flood alleviation scheme in the town is early 2025.

An update on the project, which has resulted in considerable disruption across the town due to the scale of the works involved, revealed that it is progressing to schedule and, when completed, it will assist in the prevention of flooding in Athlone in the winter of 2024/2025 and beyond.

An update was given to the meeting on the eight flood cells that make up the overall project, with two of the eight having already been completed, at Brick Island/Priory Park and Iona Park, and works at The Quay described as being “largely complete.”

Cllr Kevin 'Boxer' Moran called for the road at Brick Island, which he said was “in a terrible condition” to be reinstated and said the people living in this area had been “very polite and very patient” for the duration of the works.

He also called for the outdoor seating at The Strand to be put back into place and said members of the public were very much in favour of this, and missed being able to sit out on a fine day at the banks of the Shannon.

Cllr John Dolan wanted to know if the Flood Alleviation Scheme (FAS) was “on budget” and he said the people of Athlone “would welcome a completion date for the project.”

The briefing given to councillors gave a detailed breakdown on progress to date on each of the eight flood cells.

In relation to the Golden Island cell, where work commenced on the site in the first quarter of 2023, 100% of the Flood Defence Asset has been completed, and the Carrickobrien road piling was completed in the second half of this year.

Flood defence works commenced in Iona Park in October 2017 and are now completed, while works on The Quay, which began in May 2018 are “largely complete” although there is still co-ordination with the Main Drainage Contractor in this area.

Works are ongoing in Marine View, The Strand and Deerpark. In Marine View, issues with one stakeholder are still unresolved, while in Deerpark, where 89% of the flood defences have been completed, there are issues with two stakeholders to be resolved.

Work began in Deerpark in mid 2019 and the construction of a temporary embankment commenced earlier this year, the report said..

At the Strand area of the town, where works also began in mid 2019, and remain ongoing, the update revealed that permanent road restoration works were completed late last year.

At the River Al, hydraulic modelling is being undertaken by consultants and a Environmental Impact Assessment Report (EIAR) is being prepared for submission to An Bord Pleanala. What is being proposed for the river is “a flow control on the north side of the N6” according to the update.

The update for each of the eight flood cells stated that the Surface Water Pumping Station for Athlone has yet to be completed, which prompted Cllr 'Boxer' Moran to remark that Athlone can have all the flood defences it wants “but unless we have a pumping station we will be back to square one, pumping water out over the walls of houses”, he said.