Cork Co Council signs contract for design work on collapsed Fermoy weir

Plans to repair an important fish pass on the River Blackwater have moved a step closer this week after Cork County Council confirmed it had signed a contract for design work on the project.

A large section of Fermoy weir collapsed in January after repeated warnings by members of local angling and rowing clubs who had been lobbying for Government for two years for funding to repair it. The Blackwater is regarded by many as one of the country's finest salmon angling rivers.

A 10m section of the weir collapsed prompting serious concerns among local lobby group, Save the Weir, Save the Salmon about the impact the collapse would have on salmon migrating upstream to their spawning grounds.

Cork County Council has confirmed it has signed a contract worth almost €350,000 with consulting engineers TJ O’Connor & Associates to develop designs for the repair of the weir and construction of the new fish pass.

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According to a statement by Cork County Council, TJ O’Connor & Associates will do designs for remediation works to the existing weir and the construction of a new permanent fish bypass on the northern bank of the River Blackwater.

The contract engineering firm will also be responsible for the preparation of contract documents for the procurement of a work’s contractor to construct the entire project, which it is estimated, will cost over €3 million.

Chief executive of Cork County Council Tim Lucey said the council is working as quickly as possible on the repair of the weir and he expected the construction works to take place in the first half of 2021.