€1.35m contract signed for upgrade works at Cork's Graball Bay

A contract has been signed for €1.35m for the upgrade of roads and services at Graball Bay.

Cork County Council has appointed contractor Priority Construction to install a foul and storm sewer at Graball Bay, including watermains upgrade, as part of a Graball Bay roads and services upgrade contract.

Dwellings within the Graball Bay catchment are served by individual septic tanks and soakaways, which discharge directly to groundwater.

The 370m of gravity sewers that are being installed as part of this contract will serve the western Graball Bay catchment and provide the opportunity for dwellings to connect to the sewer network and to decommission their on-site treatment systems.

This contract represents the first phase of a larger plan to provide a sewerage collection network to convey these flows via gravity foul sewers and a pumped rising main to the sewer network serving Crosshaven.

Mayor of the County of Cork Danny Collins welcomed the signing of the contract. 

“Graball Bay is home to a mix of over 150 full-time and holiday homes, which is served by a poor cul de sac access road, which is often subject to flooding. 

“The upgrade of this road and the installation and upgrade of underground services is much welcomed.

“The provision of a sewerage collection system will allow for decommissioning of individual existing, problematic, on-site sewerage treatment systems and reduce the risk of groundwater and surface water contamination,” he said. 

The contract includes the installation of a separate surface water collection pipe on Graball Bay Road and upgrade of the existing chamber and outfall at the end of Point Lane.

The existing watermain serving the settlement will be replaced. 

Upon completion of the service installation, Graball Bay Road will be re-graded and surfaced with tarmacadam.

Considering the narrow width of the local access road, the road will be closed to facilitate excavation and pipe installation.

It is proposed to construct a temporary access road across existing tillage lands to the South of Graball Bay Road linking Graball Bay Road to Church Bay Road.

This temporary road will be removed upon completion of the contract.

Works are due to commence at the start of July and will take six months.

The project is funded by a combination of a Specific Improvement Grant from the Department of Transport, Irish Water mains replacement funding, and Cork County Council Capital funding.