Projects

Description

Recent flood events in Craughwell Village which have led to the closure of the main Galway – Dublin road have sparked outrage in County Galway and have led to calls for serious remedial works to be carried out to the Dunkellin River. Planning for this project has taken a number of years  but finally flood relief works including channel widening and deepening are being carried out by the OPW.

To enable these channel works to be carried out it is necessary to clear the river banks of trees and vegetation.
Kenny Civils & Plant Ltd were awarded the contract of the Vegetation clearance for this project.

This project involves an advance vegetation clearance contract in the following three reaches of the Dunkellin River

• In the vicinity of Craughwell Village
• Locally at Rinn Bridge
• From a location just upstream of the Dunkellin Bridge to the N18 at Kilcolgan

The advance contract includes generally for the following works:

• Felling of Trees and storage for future use by landowners. This was carried out using the conventional chain-saw method as well as an excavator mounted shears and grab which was very useful for removing trees hanging in over the river.
• Trimming back of terrestrial bank vegetation such as trees and low hanging branches and removal of encroaching vegetation such as brambles and scrub.
• Mulching of scrub, bramble and vegetation using an excavator mounted mulcher.
• Disposal of material in accordance with waste management legislation
• Temporary Fencing

As these works are being carried out in environmentally sensitive areas the works must be meticulously planned taking into account all research carried out on the bridge during the design process. The project is also time sensitive as all vegetation clearance must be carried out outside the nesting season (March to September inclusive). As this contract was only awarded in November a short contract period meant that the programme had to be ambitious and rigourously adhered to regardless of the challenges encountered along the way.

A mild and relatively dry winter assisted us in getting the project completed to the satisfaction of all parties within the project programme.

Works are carried out in co-operation with the project Ecologists RPS Group an Environmental Consulting company and Government bodies such as Inland Fisheries and the NWPS (National Parks and Wildlife Service).