Cork council expects 'major challenge' to complete Storm Babet road repairs by end of 2024

Senior engineer says such significant damage has not been seen since Hurricane Charley hit in August 1986

A washed away road near Ladysbridge in East Cork. Pictures: Dan Linehan

A senior county council engineer has said it will be “a major challenge” to complete all the necessary repairs even by the end of next year to roads damaged in East Cork by flooding during Storm Babet.

Dave Clarke, the senior executive roads engineer, said initial estimates show at least €23m worth of damage — nearly three times the amount of money the council spends annually on road repairs and maintenance in the region.

He added that such significant damage to roads has not been seen since Hurricane Charley hit the country in August 1986.

In a report delivered to councillors representing the East Cork Municipal District Council, Mr Clarke said 22 roads were closed by the damage. 

Of those, only 15 have reopened.

Mr Clarke said the council has concentrated on reopening roads vital for transportation, but the local authority has only carried out interim repairs on most of them and will have to revisit several to complete the job.

The scale of works required to fully repair and resurface damaged roads in the region 'is very, very significant'.

He said the damage caused by the October 18 storm impacted road surfaces, drains, culverts, bridges, roadside embankments, and retaining walls.

“The damage is predominately to the rural road network located within areas of steep catchments and road gradients," Mr Clarke said. 

"Following on from initial actions to sign and guard roads where significant damage occurred, the priority has been to restore transport function and vehicular access to homeowners and property owners. 

"Prioritisation of repairs has had regard to the number of roads impacted in a particular area, level of impact, road use, school bus route etc.”

He said repair works are either ongoing or planned on the seven routes which remain closed and that “number of these require major structural works before they can be reopened".

Mr Clarke said the scale of works required to fully repair and resurface damaged roads in the region “is very, very significant” and it will be “a major challenge to deliver all of this [repairs] in 2024.” 

The county council has submitted a request for funding for the damage to the Department of Transport.

He said the county council has submitted a request for funding for the damage to the Department of Transport and already received some money for priority repairs, mainly in the Inch and Mount Uniacke areas.

He told councillors the final repair bill will be far bigger than the current €23m estimate as a detailed assessments have not been done in several areas because of the sheer scale of the damage across the region.