14 March 2014 . In response reEllesmere & Adjoining Avenues
Good Afternoon,
Firstly let me apologies for the late response to your query, as this e-mail was first sent to our North City Depot before it reached myself. I am the Engineer responsible for the works in Ellesmere Ave and the adjoining streets off it. I will address your concerns below;
To give some context to my replies I have attached a diagram of the area concerned. As you can see from the attached water main layout, the mains in the area are well over 100 years old and as a result local residents were experiencing poor pressure and possible insufficient fire cover. The original plan was to rehabilitate just Ellesmere Ave but on inspection of the condition of the adjoining water mains, it was thought prudent to renew these also.
“The contractor has been working in the area for the past 2 months and to date they have only progressed halfway up one side of Ellesmere Avenue. In the process they have dug up the road to a significant extent and put tarmacadam down to fill in holes. In addition I have counted at least 3 granite stones on the edge of the footpath that have been removed and not replaced”.
Dublin City Council are in the process of replacing the water mains along Ellesmere, Ardmore, Glenard, and Doon Ave. As is the normal process in these circumstances the water main is laid first, tested and disinfected before giving each house its own individual supply. Replacing granite stones only for them to be removed again is not an efficient process, so they are sent back to DCC’s paving department for permanent reinstatement once the works are complete. The tar macadam you see, is only a temporary measure placed for Health & Safety purposes.
“The general consensus is that the work is being carried out very slowly (this seems unnecessary given that other contractors seem to progress this type of work far more efficiently and effectively) Furthermore there has been considerable damage done to the road surface, granite stones and footpaths. There has also been a lot of disruption to water supply”.
Due the unusually high amounts of ESB And Gas supplies traversing the water main and due to strict Health and Safety procedures, each utility cable has to be hand dug in order to expose and identify it. Due to the complicated and elongated nature of the water main in this area, it being supplied from Old Cabra Road, with the result that those at the end of the line will experience temporary pressure loss until the main reaches full capacity. The current works should remedy this and boost pressure significantly in the area. Few, if any of the granite or cobbles have been removed by our operatives, as we are conscious of local concerns regarding these historical artefacts and have deliberately kept the new main away from both as much as possible.
“We are concerned that this damage will not be repaired and will leave the street in very poor repair”.
The extremely poor state of the road was noted before we began these remedial works, once the Water department have completed said works the road will be handed back to DCC’s Roads and Paving department for reinstatement. We are cognisant of the residents short and long term concerns and having spoken to a few them, they seem genuinely happy that improvements are being carried out, however should you have evidence to the contrary I would be happy to discuss ether by phone or on site, at a time suitable to those concerned. We would like to take this opportunity to thank those residents of all the streets concerned and will endeavour to expedite the process as far as possible.
Regards
Gerard Ferron,
Executive Engineer,
Water Division,
Environment & Engineering,
Dublin City Council
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