Council set to fix €220k boardwalk in Youghal

A local authority is planning to reinstate a €220,000 boardwalk that was destroyed by storms earlier this month.

The 400m-long structure at Claycastle beach in Youghal, Co Cork, was torn apart by a three-day onslaught, two years after it was constructed.

Town clerk Helen Mulcahy said: “The foundation piles remain intact and we have salvaged about 40% of the hardwood decking. It has been an immensely popular attraction and we are committed to restoring it, albeit probably with some design modifications.”

However, the plan may involve more work than just the boardwalk as the storm stirred a massive sand movement, with Pilmore beach, just over 1km west, almost totally transported to Claycastle.

A report by local engineers David Kelly Associates found that under “strong winds, tidal surges, and the combined weight of water and sand”, the boardwalk was subjected to “immense uplift forces in excess of 10 tonnes per panel”.

Youghal Town and Cork County Councillor Barbara Murray said that “new groynes are needed in the area between Claycastle and Pilmore to reduce sand movements and to protect not only the reinstated boardwalk but also its proposed 1,500m extension to Redbarn”.

Sand movement has for decades been a concern across the expansive beach, with wooden groynes, installed in 1847, almost buried during winter tides.

Funding costs have led Cork County Council to defer decade-long plans to install four 240m rock armour groynes at the Front Strand. The council had hoped to conduct remedial work on the old wooden groynes this year.

However, the Front Strand lies 200m upriver from Claycastle and the groynes would not impact on sand movement from Pilmore on the other side.

A spokesman for Cork County Council said that, “following the recent storm and its devastating effect on the boardwalk and the significant movement of sand on the beach, we are currently reviewing our options”.

Meanwhile, the estimated restoration cost of the boardwalk is put at €90,000. The council hopes to acquire funding from a €375,000 flood damage application submitted to the Department of the Environment by Cork County Council on behalf of the Midleton Electoral area.

Plans to rebuild Boardwalk in time for summer.: THE BOARDWALK AT CLAYCASTLE BEACH which is so popular... http://t.co/sICiLMcTr7 #youghal

— YoughalOnline.com (@youghalonline) January 11, 2014

Shame that boardwalk in #youghal has been damaged in bad weather- here it is in one piece! Can we fix it? .... pic.twitter.com/fexlm5eO7i

— WILL HANAFIN⚡️ (@willhanafin) January 14, 2014