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Louth County council has been asked to close St Laurence's Gate, a medieval stone arch in Drogheda, to all traffic after was claimed the council had put up incorrect height clearance signs for trucks.
A number of HGVs and other large vehicles have struck the archway in recent weeks and there are visible marks on the side walls of the gateway.
Cllr Kevin Callan says he asked an engineer to examine it and, using Department of Transport regulations, concluded that the signposted height clearance of 4.5m is 1m above what it should be.
“It has been discovered that signs indicate one more metre in height availability for HGV traffic,” he said. Height clearance “is actually 3.45m, not 4.45m. So we are not talking about inches – it is a metre.”
Mr Callan said hauliers alerted him to the height issue.
“At the minute, the marks on the gate are over an inch deep,” he added. “The traffic is pulling itself through the arch when it gets stuck, and it is only a matter of days I think until the masonry work comes unsound and we have to close it because it is dangerous.”
Medieval town wall
The gate is a barbican and part of the original medieval Drogheda town wall. According to Fáilte Ireland, the gate is "widely regarded as one of the finest of its kind in Europe".
It is at one end of a road that runs parallel to the quays and it is on one of the main access routes into Drogheda town centre, Ireland’s largest provincial town.
“In the last few weeks more traffic has gotten stuck,” Mr Callan said on Wednesday. The gate is “going to be structurally damaged and we are going to end up having to have to close the gate. The time to act is now to protect our heritage. I am requesting the road is closed pending the correct signage being put in place.”
A council spokesman said: “While the council is satisfied that the sign correctly details the maximum height of the archway at St Laurence’s Gate, it is reviewing the current signage in light of recent problems at the sides of the archway.”