Slane bridge rethink
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II The Irish National Roads Authority has agreed to reconsider the bypassing of a bridge in Co Meath following a series of fatal accidents.
This follows protests by more than 600 local people after a two-year-old boy was crushed by a timber truck on the descent to the bridge at Slane last month (CM22-28 Feb).
Truck driver Barry Graham from Portrush, Co Antrim was charged with dangerous driving following the accident.
Last July, two drivers were killed in separate accidents at the bridge (CM3-9 Aug).
Although the NRA announced last week that its seven-year national road-building programme is running a year ahead of schedule, the original programme did not include plans to bypass Slane bridge.
Some EIROOm is due to be spent on national road-building in Ireland this year. The report predicts that the new motorways will reduce road deaths by up to 50% on the routes served. U The Portuguese government has accepted liability for the collapse of a road bridge in which 70 people died; it has declared two days of public mourning.
The 116-year-old bridge over the Douro is 25 miles from Porto; it collapsed after a supporting pillar gave way.