Action called for after quay wall partially collapses in Cork City centre
Nearby Cllr About Quay Concerns At Quay Walls Raised Crumbling Mick French’s Finn
There have been calls for a full audit of Cork’s historic city quay walls after a partial collapse close to one of the city’s oldest bridges.
The incident near the South Gate Bridge is the second partial collapse of quay walls on a short stretch of this section of the Lee’s southern channel in just a few weeks.
Last month, Cllr Mick Finn raised concerns about crumbling quay walls at nearby French’s Quay.
Engineers conducted an urgent initial site inspection on the latest damaged area near South Gate Bridge on Thursday and are satisfied there is no immediate risk to adjoining property or to the bridge.
Arrangements are being made to conduct a more detailed inspection to determine what repairs are required, a spokesman for Cork City Council said.
The area will be monitored closely in the meantime to ensure there is no further deterioration, and repairs will be advanced as quickly as possible, he said.
Last month, Cllr Finn asked city officials for an update on the OPW’s Lower Lee Flood relief scheme, which includes a €20m investment in the city’s quay walls.
He was told the scheme is at detailed design stage and could be submitted for confirmation to the minister for public expenditure later this year, and take five or six years to be delivered.
There are long-term council plans to build a boardwalk from Parliament Bridge to South Gate Bridge and the flood defence works have been designed to take account of this once it proceeds, he was told.
Separately, the council is developing tender documents for the repair of a 150m section of quay wall from South Gate Bridge to Clarke’s Bridge as part of the Beamish and Crawford Quarter public realm works, which could be on site later this year.
Mr Finn was told temporary quay wall stabilisation works at French’s Quay were planned in advance of this.
But historian Cllr Kieran McCarthy said several sections of quayside will not benefit from OPW investment, and a full audit was required.
“The quays on the southern channel in this historic area have been neglected for centuries and no one has dealt with the issue properly,” he said.
“It has fallen to our generation now and we need to get a full understanding of the problem before we can fix it.”