'Massive milestone' as first pipeline is installed beneath River Shannon in Athlone
The first-ever underground crossing of the Shannon in Athlone has been announced by Uisce Éireann, which said today (Thursday) that a new pipeline has been installed successfully beneath Ireland's longest river.
The work, described by Uisce Éireann as a "massive milestone", was carried out as part of the Athlone Main Drainage Scheme, an ongoing €114 million revamp of wastewater infrastructure in the town.
Tunnelling work for the pipeline began last September, in Deerpark/Showgrounds area, with a tunnel boring machine paving its way under the river in order to arrive at Burgess Park.
Commenting on the installation of the under-river pipeline, Eunan Canavan, Portfolio Manager at Uisce Éireann, said: "We are delighted that this essential capital investment for the people of Athlone is making steady progress.
"Completion of the first tunnel under the River Shannon is a massive milestone. We look forward to moving on to the next phase of works over Spring and into the Summer months and are working hard to deliver this important project while limiting the impact on the local community.
"The pumping station construction at Golden Island is also progressing well, with work now well underway to sink the walls of the shaft to the correct level, which is a huge 20 meters below ground level.
"We are on track to have the base and internal walls completed on target.
"It isn't very visible to the local community how much progress we are making, as so much of this construction work is underground, but we would like the people of Athlone to be informed of just how well the delivery is progressing."
The next phase of tunnelling work as part of the scheme is commencing this week, from Burgess Park to the nearby Wolfe Tone Terrace, and is due to take approximately two months to complete.
Following on from this, tunnelling will commence from Golden Island to Payne's Lane, and this is expected to be completed during the summer.
Traffic closures have been implemented in the Payne's Lane area of town recently, but Uisce Éireann said the area would now reopen fully to traffic, after a receiving shaft was installed in In preparation for the tunnel boring machine reaching Payne's Lane.
"Payne's Lane will again need to close for a short period of time in the Summer to accommodate tunnelling and connection works," the utility said.
In the lead up to the next phases of underground tunnelling, preparatory work is to set to continue at several locations in Athlone. These include The Strand Carpark, Abbey Road and The Quay (back of Sean’s Bar).
"While these works are in progress temporary traffic management measures, which have been previously communicated, will continue to be in place," stated Uisce Éireann.
"Works have also commenced at Coosan West pumping station and are expected to be completed by the end of September 2024, with the new asset coming online at the completion of the overall project."
Ward and Burke Construction Ltd is delivering the Athlone Main Drainage Scheme on behalf of Uisce Éireann Ltd, and the scheme is expected to be completed towards the end of next year.