THERE HAS been a call for a full examination of the impact of increased traffic on the obelisk bridge on the Battle on the Boyne site since it has become a popular “rat-run” for drivers trying to avoid either congestion in Drogheda or paying a toll on the nearby M1 motorway.
The bridge, which forms one of the main entrances to the OPW visitors centre for the battle site, crosses the Boyne river and divides Meath County Council and Louth County Council. Both authorities have agreed to jointly look after the wrought-iron structure which has a five-tonne weight limit on it.
It was built of lattice iron by Grendon’s Foundry in Drogheda in 1869 and replaced a wooden bridge which was built at the ford sometime after the Battle of the Boyne.
However, in recent times, it is often used by local people to avoid either travelling through Drogheda town centre or paying a toll on the M1 motorway to enter the town.
“This bridge is part and parcel of our past and history and with plans to develop the whole area in the future and hopes that nearby Donore will be made into a heritage village, it is time works were done to protect it,” said Louth county councillor Frank Godfrey.
“I am concerned at the impact on it of heavy goods vehicles as well as the amount of them using the bridge. I don’t believe the bridge can cope with the weight of them. Nobody is monitoring the five-tonne weight limit on it.”
He says the Battle of the Boyne visitors centre has brought an additional 40,000 visitors to the Boyne Valley and with plans for a replacement Obelisk monument and a new Orange Order Lodge, more visitors and traffic are anticipated.
Cllr Godfrey said an engineering report on the bridge had recommended up to €1 million worth of remedial works and, at the very least, he wants the stone cappings on it, which were hit by a lorry, to be replaced.
Louth County Council said: “The structural capacity of the current bridge is regarded as sufficient for the load rating of five tonnes recorded in the notice on approaches to the bridge.”
It added that a range of options existed for future work to protect the bridge link.
These range in cost from almost €600,000 plus VAT to €1.4 million plus VAT, depending on the scale of the works undertaken – from grit blasting and painting with non-structural repairs to replacement.