Project Background
The OPW, working in partnership with Clare County Council and other Local Authorities, commissioned and have completed the Shannon Catchment Flood Risk Assessment and Management (CFRAM) Study. The objectives of the CFRAM Study were to:
- Identify and map the existing and potential future flood hazard within the CFRAM Study Area,
- Assess and map the existing and potential future flood risk within the CFRAM Study Area,
- Identify viable structural and non-structural options and measures for the effective and sustainable management of flood risk in the Areas for Further Assessment (AFAs) and within the CFRAM Study Area as a whole,
- Prepare a set of Flood Risk Management Plans (FRMPs) for the CFRAM Study Area, and associated Strategic Environmental and, as necessary, Habitats Directive (Appropriate) Assessment, that sets out the policies, strategies, measures and actions that should be pursued by the relevant bodies, including the OPW, Local Authorities and other Stakeholders, to achieve the most cost-effective and sustainable management of existing and potential future flood risk within the Study Area, taking account of environmental plans, objectives and legislative requirements and other statutory plans and requirements.
The Shannon CFRAM Study Area included Shannon Town & Shannon Airport as an AFA and IRR (Individual Risk Receptor) respectively, and concluded that a flood relief scheme would be viable and effective for the community.
The option for Shannon Town, as identified at the CFRAM level of assessment, included the construction of new walls and embankments, a flow diversion, online storage areas, the replacement of two culverts, and the maintenance of the coastal embankments.
The CFRAM Study option did not address the risk of wave overtopping of the coastal embankments. However Clare County Council, Shannon Airport Authority and OPW commissioned a further study and survey of the coastal embankments, namely “Shannon Town and Airport Embankments – Survey and Assessment” (Malachy Walsh, 2018). This report concluded that the embankments were constructed in part from locally won weak silt/clay materials, giving rise to concerns regarding their ability to provide an appropriate standard of protection to Shannon Town and the airport, and recommended extensive remediation works of the embankments.
The relevant CFRAM Study reports are available, for information purposes, from the publications section of www.FloodInfo.ie.
To advance and implement a flood relief scheme for Shannon Town & Shannon Airport, Clare County Council supported by a Steering Group, has appointed RPS to develop and assist with the implementation of the Scheme. The Project shall comprise of up to five stages, as set out below:
- Stage I: Option Assessment, Scheme Development and Design,
- Stage II: Planning/Development Consent Process,
- Stage III: Detailed Construction Design and Tender,
- Stage IV: Construction,
- Stage V: Handover of Works.
