COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

south dublin county council crest

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, November 11, 2013

QUESTION NO.1

QUESTION: Councillor C. Bond

To ask the Manager to comment on the process for clearing out storm drains and culverts during the autumn season in light of the leaf fall from trees.  Could the Manager also comment on how this process might be improved to prevent drain obstructions during periods of heavy rain?

REPLY:

Water Services inspect culverts on a regular basis and clean them out when necessary. There are screens on all the major culverts to prevent items from entering and causing a problem.  Since 2011 the Council has spent approximately €500,000 on improvement to rivers and culverts.  These improvements include upgrading of culvert screens and at 4 locations and two of these screens are monitored by cctv and generate alarms it when the river levels reach a high levels.  However it should be noted that Autumn leaves do not in general cause a problem blocking culverts.

In addition Environmental Services provide the following services through Contract, removal of  leaves from the roadway, kerbs, channels, gullies, verges, footpaths and cycle tracks. This work is undertaken in conjunction with the sweeping schedules and is carried out between a period commencing the 1st September to the 31st January of the following year.   

In general gully cleansing is carried out once a year on all streets, main roads, housing estate roads, industrial estate roads, dual carriageways and motorway slip roads except in some locations as determined by the Council which are prone to flooding.  Gullies in these locations are cleaned either twice or four times a year as determined and notified to the Contractor. The contract notifies the Council of all damaged and defective gully pots and connecting pipes which are then repaired by the Council.

We ask residents not to park over gullies has this prevents gully cleaners from accessing the gully to carry out the cleaning process. 

Information on how to prepare for bad weather is available on http://www.sdublincoco.ie/viewdocument.aspx?id=057d4d83-0e62-4c00-8247-a10200ea19c9, and includes information on Gullies.