Cork County Council is to proceed with plans to shore up an embankment after three households in the Bantry area were cut off by a landslide during the winter storms.
BY JACKIE KEOGH
CORK County Council is to proceed with plans to shore up an embankment after three households in the Bantry area were cut off by a landslide during the winter storms.
At a recent meeting of the Western Committee of Cork County Council, the members agreed to approve the repair plan under a Part 8 procedure, which is required by the planning and development regulations.
The divisional manager, Clodagh Henehan, said the proposed works are designed to improve the stability of the existing embankment, and to eliminate the risk of further landslides, as well as providing the homeowners with a safe access route.
She said a large section of the embankment ‘failed’ as a result of heavy rainfall during Storm Desmond on December 5th and 6th 2015, and that the landslide caused the closure of the road.
It was subsequently cleared and re-opened on December 18th. However, it had to cleared eleven more times following further slippages over a period of three weeks.
The Council’s plan is to clear the site of all vegetation and loose material, including the felling of trees as required; the excavation of the existing embankment to a slope of 35 degrees over a length of approximately 80m; the protection of the existing watercourse; the installation of gabion baskets and earthen berms; the installation of land and roadside drainage; and the resurfacing of the road at Curramore.
*****
Click here to sign up to our mailing list and get the best of West Cork delivered straight to your inbox.