£5m scheme to alleviate Newcastle flooding issue

£5m scheme to alleviate Newcastle flooding issue

5 September 2018

WORK on a major £5m flood alleviation scheme to protect hundreds of homes in Newcastle is expected to start early next year.

The multi-million pound project — designed to prevent the Shimna River from bursting its banks — will take one year to complete, with the construction work expected to cause signifcant disruption at times.

Extending upstream into Tipperary Wood and downstream into Islands Park, the scheme is designed to protect over 300 homes at Bryansford Avenue, Shimna Road, Shimna Vale, Elmgrove Park, Larchfield Park and Marguerite which have previously flooded.

Design consultants were commissioned to come up with the scheme following a major flooding incident in the resort almost a decade ago when 40 homes were swamped in the Bryansford Avenue and Shimna Road areas.

The detail of the scheme is outlined in an environmental report which has been made public, with  politicians delighted work is due to get underway within months.

The scheme will involve the demolition of a number of property boundary walls and fences, while several mature trees are also to be felled, with sections of the river bank reinforced with what are being described as concrete clad sheet piles.

A new pathway along the river also forms part of the scheme, while part of an existing path will be realigned and one new floodgate erected.

Consultants say a road bridge at Bryansford Road is the hub point of the flood alleviation scheme, with the work involving the construction of four separate flood defences on the north and south banks of the Shimna.

Proposed new flood walls will be constructed using steel sheet piles which will vary in length and height up to a maximum of eight metres. The sheet piles will be placed in locations where new embankments are not feasible.

The finish to the flood walls will also vary between stone cladding and random rubble stone, while in parkland areas, slate cladding will be used to camouflage the steel sheet piles.

A number of new embankments will also be built as part of the new flood defences, with steel sheets driven through existing embankments to strengthen them. The piles would be covered with earth to hide them.

While a number of trees are to be removed, the environmental statement makes clear that those which enjoy protected status will remain in place. The majority of tree removal work is scheduled to to take place in Tipperary Wood.

The report also reveals that any local drainage discharging into the Shimna will be fitted with a flap valve to prevent so-called back water flooding, while to the rear of the sheet piling, a perforated pipe will be installed to assist with groundwater drainage, with the storm water taken to a single discharge point.

New picnic tables at the Islands Park form part of the scheme alongside new paths over the nearby grass mound area, but no permanent lighting will be installed as part of the work.

Confirmation that work on the £5m flood alleviation scheme is expected to start early in the New Year was welcomed at Monday night’s monthly meeting of Newry, Mourne and Down Council when it was revealed that the contractor will be required to keep the local community informed throughout the construction phase.

Cllr Laura Devlin said she was delighted the scheme’s environmental impact statement has been published and that work will start to protect homes which have been swamped by flood water in the past.

“I am delighted this project is going ahead as it will improve people’s livelihoods, but there will be disruption during the construction process given the nature of the scheme and the work involved,” she added.

Mournes councillor Glyn Hanna highlighted the strategic importance of the flood alleviation scheme in a town which, he said, had suffered from flooding for many years.

Copies of the environmental statement can be viewed at the Newcastle Centre until the end of this month or by logging on at www.infrastructure-ni.gov.uk/publications. Bound copies are also available costing £200.