Irish Rail rejects flood claims

IRISH Rail has strongly rejected claims that
scaffolding it erected at a bridge in south Dublin exacerbated recent flooding
in the area.

Houses and apartments across Ballsbridge were damaged
by flooding on Monday, October 24, when the Dodder River overflowed, as it
could not cope with the massive volume of rain that fell that day.

The flooding affected residents living at Dodder View,
Herbert Cottages, the Sweepstakes and Ballsbridge Avenue and many locals had to
be evacuated from their homes with flood waters up to five feet deep in some
houses.

Although locals say the area has been flooded in the
past, they maintain that it was never as severely affected than it was on the
day in question last month.

Some residents claim that scaffolding erected by Irish
Rail to repair a bridge over the Dodder River significantly exacerbated the
flooding.

Residents who took photographs of the scaffolding on
October 24 said the temporary structure, which was surrounded by netting, had
gathered debris from the river and inadvertently created a dam. They believe
this exacerbated the flooding upstream from the bridge.

One resident of Dodder View who spoke to Southside
People on condition of anonymity, said his house, which is located within just
100 metres of the bridge, was badly damaged by the flood waters.

“The whole ground floor of my house was destroyed,

? he
told Southside People.

“There was four or five feet of water. I have lived
here for 15 years. There was about a half of foot of water in the houses after
a flood here in the early 2000s but never any more than that.

“When I was rescuing my car I saw that the waves of
water were going backwards. They were going upstream [because of the effect of
the dam]. We were the worst hit area.

“The water couldn’t escape [from the dam] and it was
forced back up between the two bridges, one which was okay and one which was
blocked. We got the biggest volume of water because of our location between the
two bridges.

?

Local Dublin South East TD (Lab) Kevin Humphreys has
called on Irish Rail to conduct an investigation into the matter.

“There is obviously a need for flood protection works
to be carried out right up along the Dodder as far as Donnybrook,

? he said.

“There was significant damage and people are demanding that there should be an
inquiry in relation to this scaffolding and how much of a contributory factor
it was.

?

A spokesman for Irish Rail said it did not accept that
the scaffold was a factor in the flooding in the residential areas affected.

He said the scaffolding had been erected in order to
facilitate an inspection and survey of the bridge.

In addition, he said a contractor appointed by Irish
Rail removed debris from the underside of the scaffolding on October 17
following calls from residents who were concerned about the build up of matter
at the bridge.

“A further inspection by the scaffolding contractor on
October 24 found there was very little, if any, debris on the underside of the
scaffolding,

? he continued.

He added that inspections by Irish Rail showed that
flood levels upstream and downstream at other bridges were similar to the flood
levels at the bridge in question.