New pathway damaged and washed away at Dodder weir
The pathway damaged and washed away following the heavy rain at the Dodder Weir

New pathway damaged and washed away at Dodder weir

HEAVY rainfall last week resulted in a manhole overflowing close to the Balrothery Weir and a newly constructed path that leads down to the water being damaged.

The Weir and its environs have undergone a major make-over as part of the Dodder Greenway project, enhancing the local spot for park users and wildlife alike.

However, the area was impacted on by heavy rainfall last week, with a newly laid pathway being damaged and washed away, as The Echo images show.

When contacted by The Echo, a spokesperson for South Dublin County Council said that its roads section is “currently assessing the damage to the paths before repairs take place”.

Heavy rainfall also resulted in a manhole in a green space adjacent to the Weir and its new, public seating area to overflow.

The manhole that surcharged is part of the Dodder Valley Sewer, which in turn is part of Irish Water’s wastewater network for the Dublin region.

The surcharging of the Dodder Valley Sewer is an ongoing issue.

The manhole that overflowed following heavy rain, the area had been cleaned when The Echo visited

However, despite councillors, park users and environmental groups raising concerns and over €5m being invested into the South Dublin County stretch of the Dodder Greenway, it continues.

At times of heavy rain, and the system reaches peak capacity, there is the risk of wastewater overflowing into the park – and towards one of the city’s most important, biodiverse waterways, the Dodder.

This is what happened in February 2021 when heavy and persistent rain resulted in a serious volume of wastewater and debris gushing into a stretch of parkland between the Weir and Cherryfield.

Despite this, no capacity works have yet been carried out on the Dodder Valley Sewer, with waste polluting a green space in the park last weekend.

When contacted by The Echo, Irish Water and South Dublin County Council both confirmed that the overflow was linked to the surcharging of the Dodder Valley Sewer.

A spokesperson for Irish Water said: “The overflow was caused by the heavy rains over the weekend.

“A clean-up has been undertaken with follow up repairs to follow in the next few days.

“Preliminary designs are underway as the commitment by Irish Water to advance this part of the catchment in terms of a storage solution to resolve flooding.”

Irish Water said that it is delivering Drainage Area Plans in Dublin, with the plan for the Dodder Valley area beginning stage 3.

Irish Water said: “[We are] testing the existing network against current design flows and future predicted flows out to a 25-year design horizon.

“As an immediate intervention Irish Water will work closely with South Dublin County Council in relation to areas where there may be benefit in investigating and removing misconnected flows that have resulted in large areas of paved area being connected to the Foul sewer.”

Irish Water said that it is engaging with “local authorities, who have responsibility for public storm water infrastructure, and developers to look for solutions to minimise the impact of storm inflows into the sewer network in order to reduce the capacity constraints in the Foul sewers and enable growth and development”.

South Dublin County Council told The Echo: “We are aware of the issue at Dodder Valley and can confirm it was caused by the heavy rainfall over the weekend.

“It is linked to the surcharging of the Dodder Valley Sewer.

“Irish Water are aware of it and are doing an assessment of the area.

“The area was cleaned up around the manhole nearest the weir…”

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