![\"Tunnel](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/00244c90-614.jpg\"\/)
\nTwo tunnels were constructed beneath the riverbed that connect the network under the River Shannon<\/p>\n
A landmark wastewater project in Athlone to resolve a decades-long problem of sewage overflowing into the town and the River Shannon during heavy rains has been completed.<\/p>\n
Construction of the \u20ac114 million Athlone Main Drainage Scheme began in January 2023 and involved major engineering works throughout the town over the three years.<\/p>\n
It is one of the largest wastewater infrastructure projects ever undertaken in Ireland.<\/p>\n
Uisce \u00c9ireann has described it as a once in a generation project.<\/p>\n
While much of the new infrastructure built is located deep underground, the scale and complexity of the project was substantial.<\/p>\n
Over 3km of new, large sewers were installed beneath the town, with much of the work completed using tunnelling techniques to minimise disruption at street level.<\/p>\n
Two tunnels were also constructed beneath the riverbed, connecting the network under the River Shannon from east to west.<\/p>\n
Two new pumping stations were also built at Golden Island and Coosan.<\/p>\n
The project saw the decommissioning of six storm sewer overflows and five older pumping stations.<\/p>\n
\nTwo tunnels were constructed beneath the riverbed that connect the network under the River Shannon<\/p>\n
As well as addressing the long-standing issues with sewer flooding in the town, the project also addresses the lack of waste water capacity and poor environmental compliance.<\/p>\n
Athlone was one of the locations cited in a 2019 European Court of Justice judgment against Ireland for failure to comply with the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive, regarding the discharge of untreated stormwater into sensitive areas.<\/p>\n
The Shannon is a designated nutrient sensitive area.<\/p>\n
The completion of the project now increases capacity for new housing and development, and supports recreation, tourism, and biodiversity along one of Ireland’s most important waterways.<\/p>\n
Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage James Browne is attending an official event in Athlone to mark the completion of the project.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A landmark wastewater project in Athlone to resolve a decades-long problem of sewage overflowing into the town and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":425160,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[246,61,60,82],"class_list":["post-425159","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425159","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=425159"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425159\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/425160"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=425159"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=425159"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=425159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}