Damaged lock gate prompts flooding fears
Parts of Galway – including Dominick Street and Raven Terrace – are under threat from flooding, because a lock gate along a city canal is falling apart.
The local authority said it is aware of the problem at Parkavara lock gate and has vowed to put in place a temporary solution in the coming weeks.
Galway City Council said in the long-term, the wooden gate needs to be completely replaced and it is committed to doing that.
Parkavara connects to Canal Road and Mill Street and the lock gate is along the stretch of canal behind the Róisin Dubh pub on Dominick Street.
Local historian, Peadar O’Dowd has once again highlighted the urgency of the problem that Parkavara lock gate is falling into disrepair, which could result in flooding in the area.
Writing in his column in Galway City Tribune, Mr O’Dowd said: “Shock overcomes sadness at the sight of the Parkavara lock gate itself. Any day now, it is going to disintegrate, and, depending on river levels, flooding will occur downstream in the Dominick Street area, or if there is a drought, the main bed of the River Corrib at the Salmon Weir will grow daisies.”
The local authority says it will act.
“We already know about this. We are delighted that Peadar has recognised this as an issue but we recognised it a long time ago, and we are fully aware of the problem and we are dealing with it.
“It is not just historians who are interested in this; our engineers have been looking at it too. An assessment was carried out, and it was identified that the wooden lock gate itself needs to be replaced. The canal itself is probably 200 years old and it is quite possible that this old wooden lock gate is the original. It needs to be replaced – we are fully aware of that,” a spokesperson said.
For more on this story, see this week’s Galway City Tribune