Limerick tunnel Closed?

Wetbench4

Anyone know what the story with the tunnel was this morning? All the signs were saying tunnel closed but i still saw people heading towards it as i was getting off at the last exit. The traffic was mental around the dock road.
Did something happen in the tunnel or is this a regular thing?

phill106

Coming from shannon through the tunnel i saw a seemingly too large truck on the limerick side of the tunnel, stopped just before it.
When a too large vehicle is coming towards tunnel, signs tell it to stop, then if they are ignored, barriers go down. This is probably what happened.
Traffic was already moving again though when i saw it around 9.

KerranJast

Going from the experience with the Jack Lynch in Cork, every so often some idiot in a tall truck does some damage to the roof and it has to be closed for repairs. Is the Shunnel high enough for superartics?

phill106

KerranJast wrote: »

Going from the experience with the Jack Lynch in Cork, every so often some idiot in a tall truck does some damage to the roof and it has to be closed for repairs. Is the Shunnel high enough for superartics?

3 cm too short... Thats ridiculous... Wheres my shovel, I'll sort this
Latest motorway tunnel 'too low for supertrucks'

By Treacy Hogan
Friday August 06 2004
A MOTORWAY tunnel under the River Shannon that was given the green light yesterday won't be high enough to accommodate supertrucks.
The National Roads Authority (NRA) was given the go-ahead by An Bord Pleanala to build the sophisticated dual carriageway under the Shannon Estuary as part of a €320m bypass of the city.

However, the tunnel's height has been set at 4.65m for trucks, just 3cm too low for the so-called supertrucks that have controversially come onto Irish roads carrying huge loads.

Transport Minister Seamus Brennan is due to make a final decision on the height of the Dublin Port Tunnel next month, but he is expected to confirm that it will remain the same, similar to the Jack Lynch tunnel under the River Lee in Cork.

Mr Brennan has strongly indicated he will not change the truck height, also 4.65m, and signalled the Government may instead set a maximum height for trucks on Irish roads, effectively banning supertrucks for safety reasons.

The NRA and Dublin's tunnel builders have warned the minister that increasing the height of the Dublin Port Tunnel will lead to serious safety concerns and must not be attempted at any cost. The minister has been told it would cost €70m to raise the tunnel but this would delay it by seven months.

The Limerick tunnel, approved by Bord Pleanala yesterday, will carry more than 220,000 - many of them heavy goods trucks.

Bord Pleanala also approved the Nenagh to Limerick road, due to be completed in 2010.

- Treacy Hogan

Reaganomical

Ah, supertrucks. Didn't former Taoiseach and current News of the World columnist Bertie Ahern say that those trucks should be turned around and sent back because they weren't needed. Good man Bert :rolleyes:

Wetbench4

So basically the tunnel is already out of date. Also i was on the tunnel website this morning and there is no real time update as to whether its open or not (or maybe im just blind). Thats a bit mad for this day and age.

Kess73

So any trucks that cannot fit have to go along the Dock road and across Shannon Bridge, or if coming from the Dublin side they may end up going through the city again.


Genius planning.


Ah shure just ban the supertrucks in Ireland altogether and make the place that little bit more unattractive to foreign companies.:rolleyes:

limklad

KerranJast wrote: »

Going from the experience with the Jack Lynch in Cork, every so often some idiot in a tall truck does some damage to the roof and it has to be closed for repairs. Is the Shunnel high enough for superartics?

schnellimbiss wrote: »

Ah, supertrucks. Didn't former Taoiseach and current News of the World columnist Bertie Ahern say that those trucks should be turned around and sent back because they weren't needed. Good man Bert :rolleyes:

Wetbench4 wrote: »

So basically the tunnel is already out of date. Also i was on the tunnel website this morning and there is no real time update as to whether its open or not (or maybe im just blind). Thats a bit mad for this day and age.

Kess73 wrote: »

So any trucks that cannot fit have to go along the Dock road and across Shannon Bridge, or if coming from the Dublin side they may end up going through the city again.


Genius planning.


Ah shure just ban the supertrucks in Ireland altogether and make the place that little bit more unattractive to foreign companies.:rolleyes:

When the Limerick Tunnel was design the estimated the cost for the High rise super trucks. They decided the cost for a high ceiling was too high, also at that time the department of transport was going to ban the high trucks as too many bridges built are far too low to accommodate any of these truck that they are causing damage to current infrastructure. It has already happened on the Cork Tunnel.
The cost of the Toll for cars otherwise would be an estimate of €3.00.
Do you want pay €1:80 or €3.00 or more to use the Limerick Tunnel?
Therefore the Cars would be subsidizing the super Trucks to use it, If the Trucks are to bare the cost of the extra Tunnel heigh then the Toll would not be viable therefore they will use the old route anyway. So why build the Tunnel for excessive high costs if it will not be use for those it was designed for.

Having High Signs are useless, very few people do no read them. They should have Traffic lights and barriers & Gate height at each road entrance. It will save a lot of forced closures of the Tunnel for other road users.

Kess73

limklad wrote: »

When the Limerick Tunnel was design the estimated the cost for the High rise super trucks. They decided the cost for a high ceiling was too high, also at that time the department of transport was going to ban the high trucks as too many bridges built are far too low to accommodate any of these truck that they are causing damage to current infrastructure. It has already happened on the Cork Tunnel.
The cost of the Toll for cars otherwise would be an estimate of €3.00.
Do you want pay €1:80 or €3.00 or more to use the Limerick Tunnel?
Therefore the Cars would be subsidizing the super Trucks to use it, If the Trucks are to bare the cost of the extra Tunnel heigh then the Toll would not be viable therefore they will use the old route anyway. So why build the Tunnel for excessive high costs if it will not be use for those it was designed for.

Having High Signs are useless, very few people do no read them. They should have Traffic lights and barriers & Gate height at each road entrance. It will save a lot of forced closures of the Tunnel for other road users.

So despite the supertrucks being pretty much commonplace throughout mainland Europe and the UK at this stage, the Irish "plan" is to try and ban them in this country and not modernise height limits on all new tunnels and bridges?

I must say that is a great way to make this place more attractive to foreign businesses.

They can come here, but if they wish to transport goods by road they will have to use trucks that carry less product than what they use in the UK and on mainland Europe.

I can really see businesses lining up to come in when they realise that the amount of goods they normally transport on one truck now needs two trucks and two drivers.

It is not as though the larger trucks are a new event either, so there has been years and years to have a set plan in place with regards to making the road infrastructure in this country more attractive to companies using them.

Funny how many other countries in Europe thought ahead and started adjusting the heights of new tunnels etc to be ready in advance for larger vehicles.

Then again with the joke politicians and various joke authorities in Ireland it is hardly surprising that a Mickey Mouse standard is the norm. The current government likes to trot out the line that Ireland is at the heart of Europe in business terms and that it is an attractive option for foreign investors, when the reality is that it is fast becoming an badly outdated, overly expensive little island that resides on the outskirts of Europe.



As for the price of the toll, well it seems to be doing badly for them at the current price going by the most recent press release where they have stated that takings are about 25% down on what they estimated they would be, and the vehicle usage figures are well below projected figures as well.

Liam Byrne

Kess73 wrote: »

As for the price of the toll, well it seems to be doing badly for them at the current price going by the most recent press release where they have stated that takings are about 25% down on what they estimated they would be, and the vehicle usage figures are well below projected figures as well.

As I predicted in the "rip-off" thread......€860 a year is FAR too much to pay on top of all the existing excessive motoring costs in this country.

However this won't cause them to cop themselves on and price it realistically, because the idiots in government apparently put in a clause to say that if we don't use the tunnel we'll have to pay the operators anyway. :mad:

And in all fairness, it is ridiculous to have something 3cm too short; you'd say something if it were a foot or two too low, because there would be a cost involved in making it higher, but 3cm ? That sounds like a cock-up on the part of whoever designed it, forgetting to allow for the ceiling lights or the tarred surface or something.

limklad

Liam Byrne wrote: »

As I predicted in the "rip-off" thread......€860 a year is FAR too much to pay on top of all the existing excessive motoring costs in this country.

However this won't cause them to cop themselves on and price it realistically, because the idiots in government apparently put in a clause to say that if we don't use the tunnel we'll have to pay the operators anyway. :mad:

And in all fairness, it is ridiculous to have something 3cm too short; you'd say something if it were a foot or two too low, because there would be a cost involved in making it higher, but 3cm ? That sounds like a cock-up on the part of whoever designed it, forgetting to allow for the ceiling lights or the tarred surface or something.

Building the Tunnel 3cm higher will not solve any problems just create new ones including fire hazards, air flow, signs placements, etc. The tunnel need to be far higher (about a foot higher) to accommodate these super trucks.

This is the Article I mentioned on saftey grounds hitting low bridges
http://www.independent.ie/national-news/supertrucks-to-be-banned-from-roads-on-safety-grounds-151159.html

AnCapaillMor

Reminds me of something that happened to me, a long long time in a petrol station far far away. I was working in Ted Castles on the dock road when a donkn donuts truck\van pulled up asking for directions to the texaco(out by the cement factory). I told him go down that road(pointing down the dock road) and its on your right. About 3 hours later, i saw the van drag itself into the station and noiced its tires were flat then i noticed the roof, it was peeled back like a sardine can. Apparently the driver thought i said go right and so eaded over the bridge rounadabout, got as far the road under the sarsfield bridge and you know the rest.

Itsdacraic

Wetbench4 wrote: »

Anyone know what the story with the tunnel was this morning? All the signs were saying tunnel closed but i still saw people heading towards it as i was getting off at the last exit. The traffic was mental around the dock road.
Did something happen in the tunnel or is this a regular thing?

The city council are probably installing traffic lights

Liam Byrne

limklad wrote: »

Building the Tunnel 3cm higher will not solve any problems just create new ones including fire hazards, air flow, signs placements, etc. The tunnel need to be far higher (about a foot higher) to accommodate these super trucks.

This is the Article I mentioned on saftey grounds hitting low bridges
http://www.independent.ie/national-news/supertrucks-to-be-banned-from-roads-on-safety-grounds-151159.html

Fair enough, so - I was going by the statement in the article that they were "3cm too low", which is obviously sloppy journalism.

zuroph

2004 Supertrucks needed.
2010 .........