2025:517 - River Deel (Crossmolina) Flood Relief Scheme: Stage (i)d Underwater/Wade Survey on the River Deel (Crossmolina) Flood Relief Scheme, Mayo

Each of the outlined wading survey areas (U01–U05) underwent a walkover/visual inspection survey by the author accompanied by a surveyor. Conditions were excellent with dry sunny weather and each survey area was fully accessible. For completeness, the author included the areas of riverbed and banks located between U03 and U02 and U02 and U01 within the walkover/visual inspection survey. The riverbed at (U01–U03) was almost completely dried out during the survey and was found to be relatively flat bottomed and composed of loosely compacted water-rounded stones and pebbles overlying a more compact brown gravel and sand. Profiles across each of the survey areas were made to record the cross sections and break of slope variances.

No archaeological features or deposits were identified.

One potential feature of built-heritage interest was recorded at the northern extent of survey area U04. This was interpreted to be the remnants of a 19th-century dry-stone culvert which ran under the road in a north-west to south-east orientation on the northern end of U04 (ITM 514100E, 816732N). The visible exterior of the stone culvert measured 1m in height with 0.4m of it covered by water at the base of U04. It was 1.9m wide, and the stones were dry stacked with no visible mortar or concrete bonding used. Six visible courses of stones on the exterior facade were observed though there are potentially more under the water and vegetation cover. The stones ranged in size and shape from rectangular and flat to more irregular types and were between 0.25–1m long, 0.5–0.1m wide and 0.08–0.25m deep. The culvert visibly extended 1–1.5m north-west under the modern road.