Contract signed for Bandon Flood Relief scheme

On June 10th last I announced the appointment of Wills Bros. Ltd as civil engineering contractor for the construction of the Bandon Flood Relief scheme to provide much needed flood protection for the town.
Speaking at the event, I said: “I am delighted to announce the appointment of a civil engineering contractor for the construction of the Bandon Flood Relief Scheme. Bandon is one of a number of areas affected by flooding in Co. Cork in recent years including Skibbereen, Blackpool, Cork City and other locations. I wish to acknowledge the tremendous resilience shown by the townspeople of Bandon during the floods of last winter when residents and businesses came together and had the town back up and running straight away after the floods.’
The scheme flood alleviation works, with a contract value of €11m, will include: dredging of approximately 3.6 kilometres of the Bandon River, mainly downstream of the town, repair works and modifications to the Bandon Weir, replacement of the existing pedestrian bridge with a new 3-span pedestrian bridge, underpinning of Bandon Bridge, construction of new flood defence walls and improvement to others, construction of new earthen flood embankments, construction of new culverts, construction of new fish passes and associated drainage works and services diversions.
‘Earlier this week I was in Skibbereen with Cork County Council to mark the occasion of the appointment by the Council of a contractor for a flood relief scheme for the town. Now, with a contractor appointed for the Bandon Scheme, the people of Bandon can look forward in the knowledge that a project will shortly be underway to provide flood protection in the Town. I would like to thank all those involved, including local representatives and community groups in Bandon for helping to bring the Scheme to this stage. The Government is committed to implementing a number of schemes to produce solutions to prevent flooding in Cork and the rest of the country to be delivered under the significant investment of €430m over the period 2016-2021 provided in the Capital Investment Plan.’