Critical upgrade works will ‘future proof’ water supply in Ballymahon area

There is currently significant disruption but the critical upgrade works to replace 5.4km of aged water mains from Ballymahon to Carrickboy along the N55 will be worth the pain with a consistent and reliable water supply for the next 40 years and beyond.

That is the message from Dave Murphy, Uisce Éireann's Networks Regional Lead as he provided the Longford Leader with a detailed update on the multi-million euro project to 'future proof' the water supply for the town and the surrounding areas.

The Longford Leader visited the site on October 15 when approximately 3km of the 5.4km stretch had been replaced with new water main pipes.

The N55 road has been closed since August 25 last with diversions in place and it is due to reopen on Friday, November 28.
More than 6,000 residents in the Ballymahon, Legan, Carrickedmond, Forgney and Ardagh areas have regularly had to endure frequent bursts and loss of water supply since 2019.

A site investigation and negotiations were carried out in recent years and they were key elements of the Uisce Éireann and Longford County Council collaborative project.

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Mr Murphy said those assessments were all crucial for ensuring important preparations such as the breaking of rock and archaeological studies were completed.

Asked what the biggest challenge has been so far, he replied 'traffic management' and he said 'people are not used to' having to deal with diversions for such a lengthy period of time.

However, he stated he believes the general public and local representatives understand the sacrifice will be worth it.
"We met the county councillors some time before the work started for a briefing and all of them were delighted that the works were starting.

"They said they were mindful of the fact there was going to be disruption, the road was going to be closed and there were going to be complaints. They all took that on board and they were just happy that the works were progressing because of all the issues. They were probably thinking the last year or two, 'Are we going to have enough water' and although they knew the impact and the suffering they were delighted."

A contractor, Ward and Burke Construction Ltd was appointed in June to work on the project.

On the day we visited, Gavin Traynor, the Site Engineer, said they had seven men working on the pipeline crew, five men working on traffic management and a crew of six men were visiting the site twice a week to do the tarmacking.

Mr Murphy explained the work they do nationwide in other areas is usually less challenging with smaller diameter pipes compared to the N55 Carrickboy to Ballymahon job.

"It is usually one kilometre, two kilometre sections here and there. But this overall stretch here is 5.4 kilometres so that is a pretty big project."

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Mr Murphy said their traffic management crew play a very important role and they are doing everything possible to minimise the disruption for local residents.

Uisce Éireann has accepted there is a significant impact on residents and motorists in the vicinity and surrounding areas who have been forced to take diversions for four months.

However, Mr Murphy emphasised there is one small benefit for residents on the N55 as he pointed at some individual houses surrounding us on either side of the roadway.

"There is a huge impact, the road is closed. But, these residents love the road being closed, by the way because there's great peace here, you won't get any complaints from residents. And by the way you see these surrounding individual houses...there's never a time that they can get into the property. The only time there may be a day when we are saying we are going across the property, we knock on the door and then the homeowner might come and say it's a day and never mind that.
But other than that they can always get into their property."