Hauliers quit quest to raise port tunnel

HAULIERS have given up on trying to have the height of the Dublin Port Tunnel raised to accommodate super trucks carrying goods from Britain.

But they warn that the State could face compensation claims from fleet owners who invested heavily in new vehicles in the expectation that the underground motorway would be high enough to take them.

Transport Minister Seamus Brennan said yesterday he would “sign off” on the issue next month when he and his junior Cabinet colleague, Minister for State Jim McDaid, planned to announce new rules on height restrictions for vehicles using Irish roads.

However, it is widely accepted that the Minister does not intend to order amendments to the €700 million tunnel to raise its roof to the five metre height needed to accommodate the extra-high trucks preferred by some British haulage contractors.

“We will sign off on a final height of trucks nationally in early September and that is likely to be something above the European norm. It would take somewhat larger trucks but not super trucks,” he said.

Jimmy Quinn of the Irish Road Haulage Association said he did not expect the Minister to change his mind on the issue. “We can live with it providing an alternative overground route is found for the biggest trucks,” he said.

But he said that trucking firms in Britain and northern Ireland were considering legal action against the State. “Every road bridge built in Ireland in the last 25 years has had a five metre clearance so they had a right to expect that the tunnel would be the same,” said Mr Quinn.

“I hope it doesn’t come to court cases. I hope the Minister designates a route they can use. At this stage we just want the tunnel open,” he said.

The tunnel is on schedule to open to at least 9,000 trucks per day in December 2005 after a major milestone was reached yesterday when the last few feet of the final 2.2km section of roadway were cleared out by the giant tunnel boring machine specially built for the task.

However, residents in the Marino area of the city were not pleased, claiming the tunnelling had damaged 169 houses.