Sir, – Recent events suggest local authorities, ever long on charges and short on services, have once again focused on irrelevances at the expense of the basics. In the run-up to Halloween, we invariably see zealous confiscation of wood piles on the grounds that these might lead, (shock horror!) to bonfires. This is in contrast to the indifference with which any litter is treated during the rest of the year.
In the meantime, drainage is totally neglected. Roadside shores are left visibly blocked for months if not years on end. On those rare occasions when they are cleared, the debris is left mounded up, waiting to be washed straight back in by the next shower. If only this were removed with the same vigour reserved for bonfire piles.
We are perhaps fortunate that the warm autumn has caused a late leaf fall. In “normal” conditions, Monday night could have been a lot worse. – Yours, etc,
Sir. – Clontarf Road started flooding badly at 15.30pm on Monday after a huge amount of rainfall. At this time the tide was out. Blocked drains caused the flooding – not the sea. Dublin City Council has wasted serious money on this so-called Clontarf Flood Defence that is completely unnecessary and a waste of time.
The heights of the proposed sea wall are to accommodate the laying of a water main on the promenade and not to protect us from the tide – it’s called taking short-cuts! If that system was in place on Monday the flooding would have been a lot worse as the water could not have escaped onto the promenade (which, thankfully, a lot of it did). Simply raise the sea wall and the small wall at the cycle lane – that is a proper flood defence. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – I just wish to point out regarding your coverage of the Dublin floods: the word “sewerage” means the infrastructure that carries waste water from a collection point to its point of discharge and the word “sewage” means the water-carried wastes, in solution or suspension, that flow along the sewerage system.
Regarding the flooding, it is not to the civil engineers that we need to look for a solution, but to the landscape architectural profession because it has a greater understanding of environmentally sustainable design. It may well become necessary to discharge floodwater overflows onto sports fields, parks and flood retention areas to reduce the level of surcharge on the sewerage and stormwater drainage systems. This has been done in some Australian cities, where tropical downpours are the norm. This sort of design solution requires a different mindset, and civil engineers will need to elevate their design process above the confines of contrived functionality if they want to resolve the problem. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – All we have heard following the recent disastrous floods is comment on the responseby authorities and Minister of State for the Office of Public Works Brian Hayes. As is typical in Ireland, we criticise the "firefighting". We are focusing on "firefighting" when we should be concentrating on planning and forward thinking. If the country's drains were cleared on a regular basis, and in particular in autumn when leaves are falling, the level of floods and consequent damage would be hugely reduced.
The Irish habit of reacting after the event has to be eliminated. So with cutbacks we can't afford it: rubbish. The costs and consequences of not planning are far greater! Consider the maintenance of our new roads, motorways, verges, embankments, road signage, etc and please recognise that maintenance is far cheaper than repair and replacement. – Yours, etc,