A new sluice gate has been installed adjacent to the old sluice at Ballyvergan bog, Youghal. The sluice plays an integral part of the water flow system at the bog. It has a gate hinged at the top. When pressure is from one side, the gate is kept closed, a pressure from the other side opens the sluice when a threshold pressure is surpassed.
Click on the video below to see the new sluice in operation:

Last Tuesday ( April 19th 2011) the sluice gate was opened to release excess rainwater into the sea.  The rainfall from the nearby hills of East Cork flows into the bog which leads to flooding.  The sluice gates are used to environmentally control water levels and flow rates in Ballyvergan bog and the surrounding areas. They are interconnected with the water channels that crisscross the privately owned lands above and below the railway track.

The Youghal to Cork railway line cuts right through the Ballyvergan and Summerfield bogland. The culverts underneath the railway track channel the excess water above the railway line to flow naturally downstream to the sluice gates and out into the open sea. The old sluice collapsed in a storm and has not functioned properly for a number of years.

 

Almost 20,000 households in Cork City are without water after unprecedented flooding described by the ESB as a “one-in-800-year event”. These pictures show the extent of the damage caused by the Flooding. Picture: Brian Lougheed, Roger O’Sullivan, Margaret and Randy Jordon

The flood has meant 123,000 people will be without water for at least three days, forcing hundreds to queue for emergency supplies from tankers yesterday.

Click on image to see more of the Cork City floods

Road flooding was discussed at the January meeting of Youghal Town Council. Mayor Olly Casey said the ponding (i.e. flooding) in the vicinity of Nagle House was “an absolute disgrace”. Report Christy Parker / Photo Michael Hussey (YoughalOnline.com)

He described it as dangerous for cars and a recurring nightmare for pedestrians who risked getting soaked and also projects a poor image of the town. It would make one “ashamed” to be associated with it, proceeded the former water curator before adding that it would not take a work of genius to resolve the problem by digging access to a gulley or creating a new gulley. A similar situation persisted at Gallagher’s Terrace he added. The Mayor concluded that the green walls on Nagle House are turning further green through algae generated by splashing. Town engineer Paul Murray said the issue will be resolved “in a month or so” along with the Quarry Road and Gallagher’s Terrace. Read more