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Top trucks too tall for Dublin tunnel
Page 8
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THE IRISH government is expected to ignore protests over the current height of the Dublin Port Tunnel and keep it at 4.65m, after its designers were apparently misinformed about the height of many trucks.
And in an attempt to deflect embarrassing revelations that modern mega-trailers are more than 4.8m in height and therefore too big for the tunnel, Irish Transport Minister Jim McDaid is considering an outright ban on larger trucks in the next four to five years.
The Irish Road Haulage Association's Jimmy Quinn describes such a move as: "An impediment to trade," based on what he calls a "very spurious road safety excuse argument". He warns that the TRHA opposes any ban.
The RHA's chief executive, Roger King, claims the designers of the tunnel due to be opened at the end of 2005 were not told about mega-trailers. He adds: -McDaid said a catastrophe on Irish roads is inevitable unless supertrucks are banned; he said he saw them swaying in the wind. If trucks are swaying in the wind, they are not over height — they are badly laden."
A spokeswoman for the Irish Department of Transport says a decision on the tunnel has yet to be made, but that there would be "safety implications" if there were any changes to its height: "This issue with the national height limit and truck traffic police will be dealt with by early next month."