€31m and five years overdue
Badgers, fish, exams and an unsafe wall are blamed for endless flood works in centre of affluent Dublin suburb
WORKS to prevent flooding along the River Dodder in south Dublin that were supposed to be finished in late 2015 will not be completed until later this year, at a cost of €31m.
The Office of Public Works has blamed the delays on the fact that Dublin City Council did not carry out a full survey of the required works and on unforeseen delays ranging from the discovery of badger setts to access disputes.
Officials have been forced to defend themselves against accusations of ‘time-wasting’ as the works dragged on.
The Lower Dodder Flood Defence Works will protect more than 1,500 properties throughout Dublin 2 and Dublin 4 against tidal and fluvial (river) flooding, running from the Liffey at Ringsend, past the Aviva Stadium, through Ballsbridge and on to Clonskeagh further upriver.
The Irish Mail on Sunday has established that the second phase of the Dodder scheme will end up costing €6m more than initially thought, at €18m, with an extra €1m of that added in the last year alone.
Dublin City Council and the Office of Public Works (OPW) embarked on the project in 2007 after an indepth study deemed areas along the Dodder in south Dublin to be highrisk flood areas.
The Phase 1, tidal, part of the Lower Dodder Flood Defence Works began in 2007 and ran roughly from Ringsend Bridge where the Dodder meets the Liffey, to London Bridge near the Aviva. The Phase 2, nontidal, part of the works started in 2012 and is still ongoing, running upriver through Ballsbridge, Donnybrook and on to Clonskeagh, with all work originally planned to be finished by late 2015.
The original cost estimate for Phase 2 was €12m but will come in at €18m when it is finally finished later this year, the OPW told the MoS, adding that the original estimate was ‘indicative only, and subject to change in light of further survey information etc’.
Just last year, a briefing note prepared by the OPW for the Public Accounts Committee said Phase 2 was expected to come in at €17.1m. Phase 2 is now being budgeted at €18m – an increase of nearly €1m in just a year.
The OPW also told the MoS that the original initial indicative cost estimate for Phase 1 was €16m, but that the final cost was €13m, with a change in the scope of the project accounting for the €3m difference.
However, these figures are at odds with figures given to constituents by outgoing Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy, then a local TD, who wrote in a post on his website in early 2012 that the OPW would be spending €1m to €2m per year for the next four years on the project, planned to be completed by 2016.
This would put the planned spend on Phase 2 at a maximum of €8m, less than half the €18m the OPW is now predicting as the final spend.
Asked to clarify the 2012 figures, Mr Murphy’s Fine Gael party said they were a matter for the OPW. The MoS asked the OPW if it could cast any light on Mr Murphy’s figures but it could not.
Since work started along the River Dodder in 2007, the project has been beset by problems, with work delayed because of exams at a local third-level college, the discovery of badger setts, fish spawning season, legal rows over access, flooding, and compensation claims from residents, as well as planning issues.
Meanwhile, documents seen by the MoS also revealed that officials in the OPW and Dublin City Council clashed over whether €1m or €1.7m should be spent repairing a historic river wall located opposite the RDS on Anglesea Road. The discovery that the wall was structurally unsound led to major delays.
It is clear from a briefing document prepared by the OPW in August 2017 that the State agency lays the blame for the multimillioneuro overruns and extraordinary delays with Dublin City Council.
A seven-page report prepared by a civil servant working with the OPW concludes: ‘There has been some criticism of DCC and OPW for not meeting an initial programme drawn up in early 2012. This programme was drawn up by DCC at short notice and before planning had been attained by the council.
‘Full site investigations or structural surveys had not been completed so a full picture of the required work was unknown at that time. Significant additional
An increase of nearly €1m in just a year
‘A full picture of required work was unknown’
works have since had to be undertaken as a result of the findings from these surveys.
‘The programme proved too ambitious, bearing in mind the lack of planning approval at the time and the significant extra works which have had to be undertaken in the meantime.’
Meanwhile, a clearly exasperated OPW official wrote a letter in defence of his colleagues after an email complaining about workers ‘time-wasting’ was received from the public.
Machinery has been on site at flood defence locations for the duration of the project. The complaint prompted the upset OPW official to respond: ‘During the ordinary course of construction, flooding can also wash away previously constructed haul roads on the river bed which have to be replaced as soon as flood/flow conditions allow,’ he said.
‘This may have been the case when [unnamed person] saw the excavator digging the holes and wasting time. [Unnamed person] alternatively may have witnessed the machine excavating for an underpin or a trial hole.’
The irate official then added: ‘I can assure you that the OPW personnel employed on the project are highly skilled, highly trained, safety-conscious and very committed to achieving highquality work in an efficient manner.’
Responding to the OPW, the council said: ‘DCC were asked for an indicative timeline before planning, site investigations and surveys were completed. This was best estimate at that time.’