Callan King's River - Kilkenny County Council set out plan to remove silt mounds

A timeframe for phase two of works on the King’s River in Callan has been set out by Kilkenny County Council.

The outline comes following the recent successful project to clear the eyes of the bridge over the river.

Phase two works are scheduled to take place next summer, it was explained at the October meeting of Callan Thomastown Municipal District councillors. 

Over a quarter of a million euro has been allocated to do the main body of work on the river, under Town and Village Renewal funding.

Area Engineer, Declan Murphy, explained environmental and planning constraints on the work.

Kilkenny County Council has engaged with consultants to bring forward tender drawings for the project.

The local authority must also liaise with Inland Fisheries Ireland and the National Parks and Wildlife Service on the project.

When the silt is cleared from the river the bed and bank may need reinforcing with something like rock armour, Mr Murphy added.

This planning will take place between now and Q2 of next year, he told the meeting.

There are only two months of year that work is allowed to take place in the river, Mr Murphy said, and, like this year, a derogation may be given for a third month. This would mean a window to do work between July and September.

“We plan to get our ducks in a row to get the work done next summer,” Mr Murphy applied a river reference to the project.

He reminded councillors that a previous study revealed there is asbestos in the river silt mounds and the consultants will address this.

Cllr Stephanie Doheny had requested an update on the plan for the river, at the meeting.

Mr Murphy said the recent contractor who cleared the eyes of the bride did a “brilliant job.” That work was funded under the Climate Action Fund.