This article is from page 29 of the 2007-07-24 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 29 JPG
THE RAILWAY Bridge at Cratloe is a “ticking timebomb” it was claimed WT Lore) ©
But the cost of straightening out the treacherous bends on the ap- proach to the bridge and doing other works to make it safe would be in the order of one million euro, local councillors were told.
Cllr Cathal Crowe raised the mat- ter at a local area meeting of the council.
‘There is a 90 degree bend and a series of turns on the approach to this bridge that make it one of the
worst in the country. If ever there was a ticking time bomb, then this is one,” he said.
Cllr Crowe pointed out that there had already been an accident at the bridge, when a truck detoured be- cause of President Bill Clinton’s visit and became wedged under the bridge, demolishing part of it.
Senior Council Engineer, Sean Lenihan, said that the cost of rea- ligning the road and working on the bridge itself could be as much as one million euro.
“As far as Irish Rail are concerned, the bridge is operating perfectly well as a railway bridge so they will
not be putting any of their money into this. But what they have agreed to do is to get their designers to put the work in on the bridge aspect and if we get our designers to come up with a road plan, then we can look at where funding might come from.”
But the senior engineer warned that any solution to the problem will also depend on whether there may be other obstacles, such as whether the land is suitable for a road rea- lignment.
‘The engineers of days gone by had reasons for the way they did things and there may be reasons why the bridge and the approach is designed
the way it is. There may be obstacles or restraints we don’t know about and we won’t know until we look into it.”
In the meantime, the engineers agreed that they will see what meas- ures can be taken by way of signage or speed restrictions to warn drivers of the hazards.
Cllr Crowe recommended _ that there be “some sign which indicates to drivers to be prepared to stop. Lo- cal people are aware of the hazards if they meet another car but anyone who doesn’t know the area won’t be aware of that and there could be a dreadful accident”.