Water main improvement works on High Road commence

Irish Water working in partnership with Donegal County Council is set to commence works on phase two of the High Road/Windyhall Water Mains Replacement Project.

This section of work is due to commence next week and will involve the replacement of 490 metres of pipeline outside Letterkenny Regional Hospital starting at the Hospital Roundabout and ending at St Columba’s Terrace. The works will be completed by Farrans Construction.

These water mains renewal works are being carried out as part of Irish Water’s national Leakage Reduction Programme. The Leakage Reduction Programme will see over €500 million invested over the next four years to reduce leakage and remove problematic pipes from the public water network. These works will help to ensure that we have a clean, safe and reliable water supply now and into the future to support our growing population and economy.

The benefits to customers are significant improvements in network performance and customer service in terms of supply pressure, security and quality of supply, and water pressure. This particular project will reduce the instances of bursts in the area and thereby significantly reduce the level of disruption to customers.

Phase one has been completed and consisted of the replacement of 270 metres of pipeline outside the hospital orthodontic department up to the hospital roundabout.

A traffic management plan, which has been developed in consultation with Donegal County Council’s roads and water services offices will be in place once again. Every effort has been made to consider the local businesses and the general public in planning this portion of the works. Phase two will be completed in approximately nine weeks including the Easter holidays, when works will be suspended from March 30 to April 4.

The work sections will be limited to short sections to minimise impact on customers. The works may involve some short-term water shut offs and the project team will ensure that customers are given a minimum of 48 hours prior notice of any planned water shut offs. Customers can contact the Irish Water call centre on 1850 278 278 if they have any queries.

Details of the traffic management plan are as follows:

Hospital Roundabout (road crossing): (100m) – night works, lane diversion, works carried out in three phases to facilitate lane diversion and two way flow of traffic.
Hospital Roundabout to Iona Road: (70m) – daytime stop and go system, with traffic lights installed at night.
Iona Road to Beechwood Park: (90m) – night time road closure, with diversions
Beechwood Park to Sprackburn Drive: (45m) – daytime stop and go system, with traffic lights installed at night.
Sprackburn Drive to Newline Road: (190m) – daytime stop and go system, with traffic lights installed at night.

Signage will be placed at both ends of the scheme to alert commuters of the works and any expected delays.

As well as replacing 750 metres of ageing public water mains, the project also involves replacing old damaged service connections. A service connection is the water pipe which joins Irish Water’s public main to a customer’s property. The old water mains and service connections will be replaced with modern high density polyethylene (HDPE) plastic pipes.

This project forms part of Irish Water’s investment plan. Works have been prioritised to address the most critical issues in line with commitments outlined in Irish Water’s Business Plan. Delivery of the business plan will involve a €5.5 billion investment in capital spending on drinking water and wastewater quality and capacity and new infrastructure up to 2021. This plan includes an investment in leakage reduction and water quality initiatives, called the Leakage Reduction Programme, which will see an investment of €512 million during the period to 2021. These works are vital to ensuring a clean, safe and reliable public water supply to support our growing population and economy.

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