Work to replace a West Clare bridge destroyed during flooding late last year has been completed. Located close to Doolough Water Treatment Plant at Cloonlaheen, Creevagh Bridge is located along the L62642-01 over the Annageeragh River. The original structure was demolished by floodwaters in December 2015. Five households were affected by the subsequent road closure. Before construction work commenced in early summer 2016, the Road Design Office of Clare County Council carried out a topographical survey and site investigation. An Appropriate Assessment screening was also undertaken to determine the potential for significant impacts of the work on the natural environment, while the Road Design Office obtained the necessary licences from Inland Fisheries Ireland and the Office of Public Works (OPW). In recent months, new culverts and wingwalls were installed and new blockwork and dry stone boundary walls were reconstructed to match the destroyed bridge. The existing local road has been realigned and reconstructed over a length of 40 metres. The …
Read More »‘Our life’s work is gone and nobody cares’
A SOUTH Galway man, whose farmyard and milking parlour are under water, has described the “terrible mental strain” he feels from the loss of his livelihood and his efforts to keep his herd of 95 cows alive. “Two days after Christmas, the water came into the yard. It was like the tide coming in on top of us,” Micheál Flaherty recalled. “I don’t know what I will do, to be honest,” the Tierneevin dairy farmer admitted, “because the parlour will cost a lot of money. We will have to rewire it completely. It is all under water. It will take months for the water to even go away. If it stopped rising today, it would still take three months for the water to recede. That is my income. I have nothing else. All our life’s work is gone and nobody cares. “I genuinely thought we could keep the water out. I had two good pumps from the council. It came …
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