For main objective for this site on the Quiggery was to reinstate 30m of collapsed bank including re-installation of fencing in order to reduce impacts of erosion.
The site below Blackfort Bridge on the Quiggery River, a tributary of the Drumragh, was significantly impacted a flood event causing a large area of bank to slip into the river. The slip caused the loss of fencing and an access stile. This site is one of the few good holding pools in this catchment and acts as a sanctuary to migrating salmon early in the season.
This scheme involved the insertion of a double row of tree root wads, dug into the eroded bank, which had been locally sourced. These were installed as a double row in an area of 30m to re-profile the bank and to arrest the erosion issues.
The collapsed bank was largely retrieved from the river, as was the old fence and stile. The old bank was then used to put on top of the root wads to hold them in place.
This was an interesting alternative from using rock revetment and it is anticipated that the root wads will be successful in trapping silt moving down river following flood events, which should reduce the sediment loading in the river channel.
Root wads are also very natural and should give refuge to fish species, as well as being ideal habitats for hosts of invertebrates. The scheme also involved the reinstatement of 40m of riparian fencing to protect the investment and allow a natural buffer strip to grow back. It also incorporated the supply and erection of an access stile and a drain crossing for anglers using a twin wall pipe.
There are no special designations on the Drumragh, therefore no approvals were required for this scheme. Department for Infrastructure Rivers did not require a Schedule 6 approval, as the Agency were not putting any groynes or weirs in the river, which could potentially raise water levels.
Read the full case study for river restoration works during 2020 on the Drumragh catchment.
