Cork council to consult army on contingency plans in case bridge into Cobh is damaged

The council was asked for its emergency plans if the more than 200-year-old bridge at Belvelly, outside Cobh, crumbles or is put out of use due to a crash. File picture: Eddie O'Hare

Cork County Council is to ask army engineers to examine contingency plans for a temporary crossing if the only bridge leading into Cobh is damaged in ‘a doomsday scenario'. 

The council was asked for its emergency plans if the more than 200-year-old bridge at Belvelly, outside Cobh, crumbles or is put out of use due to a crash.

Labour councillor Cathal Rasmussen said there had been many accidents on the only main road serving the Cobh area (R624 Fota Road) which had seen it closed on numerous occasions, sometimes for 24 hours, resulting in traffic chaos.

He said while emergency services could divert through the Fota Island Resort and adjacent wildlife park, that option will not work if the Belvelly bridge is closed.

Mr Rasmussen raised concerns about the ageing bridge withstanding any significant damage and suggested the army be consulted about a pontoon or similar replacement "just in case".

Another Cobh-based councillor, Ger Curley, said the bridge is "showing signs of fatigue".  Independent councillor John Buckley, who like Mr Curley is a former Naval Service member, said he often wondered what chaos would ensue if the bridge is out of action.

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“The army have the expertise and would be well capable of providing a solution,” he said. “We need to work with the Defence Forces on this,” Cobh-based Fianna Fail councillor Dominic Finn added.

Fine Gael councillor Sinead Sheppard, who also lives in the town, said plans for a new highway to replace the Fota Road and Belvelly bridge could take up to 15 years to reach fruition and back-up plans are needed in the interim.

“It is one of the busiest roads in the county. We are continuing to grant more planning permissions in Cobh and that means additional traffic. It would be a ‘doomsday scenario’ if anything happened to that bridge and we need to have a plan just in case,” Fine Gael councillor Anthony Barry said.

Niall Healy, the senior council official in charge of emergency planning, informed the Irish Examiner that he will speak to the Defence Forces about contingency plans.

He said that the council heads an interagency group which meets to plan for many scenarios and this was normally activated for extreme weather events.

Defence Forces bridges

A Defence Forces spokesman said that they have temporary bridges which are primarily designed for military use, but can be deployed under ‘aid to civil power’ in emergencies if requested by local authorities. 

The bridges are kept in kit form in containers and army engineers frequently carry out exercises to erect and dismantle them.

There are two forms regularly used – Pontoon and Bailey Bridges. The former is a floating bridge while the latter is a steel girder bridge which can span the stretch of water. 

“It would take us just a couple of days to deploy them,” the spokesman added.