GEORGE REYNOLDS,
Sir, - There is an innovative piece of highway engineering near Madrid which the National Roads Authority would do well to emulate as a means of resolving their dilemma over the Carrickmines archaeological site, lying as it does in the path of the M50.
When the Ministerio de Obras Publicas y Transportes (MOPT) was constructing the M-1 from Madrid to Santander, they encountered an important geological heritage site known to generations of geology students as the "Zaleski fold" at kilometer 70 less than an hour's drive from the airport.
The solution was to gradually separate the two sides of the motorway and leave the heritage site preserved in the central reservation. This has the double effect of leaving the site perfectly visible, but inaccessible, to the public, thus preserving its integrity.
I'm sure my friends in the MOPT would be delighted to show their handiwork to the NRA, and I offer my services as interpreter should they require assistance. -Yours, etc.,
GEORGE REYNOLDS,
Annamoe,
Co Wicklow