Councillors are unhappy pearl mussel is preventing bridge flood works

THERE is no straightforward solution to flooding at Dunmanway’s Ardcahan Bridge, members of the West Cork Municipal District (WCMD) have been told.

Several times a year, the R587 – which is at the centre of the fastest route to Cork and lies at the confluence of the Caha and Bandon River – floods.

And every time it floods, said Cllr Declan Hurley (Ind), who raised the issue at the WCMD meeting, it leads to emergency road closures and diversions.

Cllr Hurley called on the Council to source the funding needed to carry out flood prevention measures.

But engineer John Ahern told the councillors that the primary cause of flooding is when the Caha River bursts its banks, combined with the overflow from the River Bandon, and that some remedial works could not be carried out because they may endanger the freshwater pearl mussel.

He said a dwelling house, and the low-lying nature of the roads around Ardcahan, mean local drainage is not a solution.

But Cllr Hurley was of the opinion that the roads should be raised three to four feet to allow motorists to navigate the overflow from both rivers. He described his proposal as ‘an extended bridge with parapets’ and he urged the Council’s roads team to ‘raise the roads so they will not be flooded in the future’.

Cllr Hurley said this was his fourth time raising the issue since 2013 because more and more unsuspecting motorists are driving into the flood waters, getting stuck, and damaging their vehicles.

‘Some have had to pay €700 for the removal of their vehicles and repairs,’ he said, while others have ‘no clue what to do’ because detour signs are not put in place until some time after the roads flood.

‘No other road in West Cork has to close on such a regular basis,’ according to Cllr Hurley. Cllr Deirdre Kelly (FF) supported the motion, as did Cllr Joe Carroll (FF), who said most people from Skibbereen take this route when driving to Cork city.

‘When it is closed off as regularly as it is, something will have to be done,’ said Cllr Carroll.

Cllr Danny Collins (Ind) described the route which passes Ardcahan Bridge as ‘the fastest to Cork’ and Cllr Karen Coakley (Ind) said she uses it all the time. Cllr Coakley said some motorists – who aren’t aware of the depth or the danger – drive through the flood waters, particularly at night.

‘Some day someone will lose their life there because it is a constant danger,’ she said.

John Ahern said any planned alteration works to the existing layout at Ardcahan Bridge would require a flood risk assessment to determine the likely knock-on effect of any planned works or alterations.

The engineer reminded the councillors that the area is a designated special area of conservation (SAC) so any planned works would be subject to legislative compliance.

He said the regional and local roads design office decided they would not clear the debris around the bridge because it was deemed ‘unacceptable from an environmental point of view’, namely the impact it would have on the endangered freshwater pearl mussel.

As a result, he said, the regional and local roads design office will confine their work to repairing the deck of the bridge.

Because fluvial flooding is a matter for the Office of Public Works (OPW), John Ahern said the matter would be discussed with the Council’s capital floods projects unit, which is the OPW’s point of contact with the local authority.

‘It’s a joke that a public road can be left to flood just because there is a pearl mussel in the vicinity. What we want are safe roads for motorists,’ said Cllr Hurley.

Cllr Joe Carroll (FF) was of the opinion: ‘It would be great if all this flooding would take out the pearl mussel colony.’