Bridge checks over damage concerns

THE NATIONAL Roads Authority (NRA) is to carry out a damage inspection of 2,500 road bridges across the State amid increasing concern about the multi-million euro cost of "bridge strikes" from articulated lorries and agricultural vehicles.

The inspection is to be carried out over the next 12 months and follows a recent incident on the M11 at Shankill, in south Dublin, when a heavy panel from the side of a bridge fell into the path of traffic on the motorway's southbound carriageway.

The authority said the panel fell after being struck by an agricultural vehicle and given the propensity for another strike, it would not be restoring the panel which it described as "purely decorative".

The authority is now making plans to remove the remaining panels on the bridge.

It is difficult to quantify the cost of such bridge strikes as "cosmetic damage" is repaired by local authorities, while major structural damage would be paid for by the roads authority itself, and some costs are recovered from vehicle insurers.

But in just one case involving a substantial bridge strike at Rathcoole on the N7, which led to traffic diversions and closure of the bridge, the ultimate bill was €1.5m.

Although South Dublin County Council offered a €10,000 reward for information, no culprit was identified.

At the time of the damage, the NRA said the "increasing prevalence of 'bridge bashing' is, in the view of the NRA, indicative of the cavalier attitude among certain owners and drivers of heavy goods vehicles regarding their responsibilities not to cause damage to bridge structures".

Yesterday, the NRA said the average cost of each strike was much lower than the Rathcoole incident, at about €20,000, but it said the resultant traffic management diversions could cost in the region of an additional €20,000 to €30,000 to put in place.

Given that the authority estimates there are 200 to 300 bridge strikes a year, the overall cost could top €10 million.