Madam, - Your Editorial of May 14th is critical of the approach taken by the Minister for Transport, the NRA and Dublin City Council in relation to the height at which the Dublin Port Tunnel is being constructed.
The Port Tunnel is the largest road project being undertaken by the State and one of the largest tunnel projects being constructed in Europe. The country should be proud of its engineering. It will provide a direct link from our largest port to the motorway network and remove from Dublin's streets many thousands of trucks that currently pass through the city each day.
The tunnel is being constructed with a physical height clearance of 4.9 metres, but for operational safety reasons (to protect against flapping or loose loads) a truck height limit of 4.65 metres will apply. During the period from initial planning, design development, statutory hearings and approvals to the post receipt of tenders, truck height legislation was in existence in Ireland limiting trucks to 4.25 metres and buses (double-deck) to 4.57 metres. Under that legislation all vehicles operating legally on Irish roads would have been able to use the tunnel.
This legislation was revoked in July, 2000 for, it is understood, a procedural reason, leaving truck heights unregulated. Given that no road infrastructure can cater for unlimited dimensions, the NRA/Dublin City Council decided to proceed with the project already developed and approved, for which tenders had by that time been received.
Your readers can be confident that the height of the Dublin Port Tunnel is equal to or greater than that of tunnels in most European countries and around the world. A recent survey carried out by a recognised world expert group analysed tunnel heights in 12 countries. The results showed that 10 of these countries built their tunnels to heights that were either less than or equivalent to that of the Dublin Port Tunnel.
Your Editorial contends that the trend in transport is towards bigger trucks. That simply is not the case. Indeed, the trend in Europe is towards limiting the physical height of trucks on public roads and most European countries, including virtually all of our EU partners, are operating a maximum height provision of 4 metres, with a small number of countries allowing up to 4.5 metres. The height of the Dublin Port Tunnel is significantly greater than the height of trucks allowed to travel through most European countries.
Finally, it is necessary to put into context the number of trucks that currently exceed the Tunnel height. Dublin Port Company set up a truck height measurement unit at the main access point to and from Dublin Port. Nearly half-a-million trucks have been measured since last October; more than 99 per cent were below 4.65 metres (the operational clearance height of the Dublin Port Tunnel), leaving only 0.6 per cent above this limit. This equates to an average of approximately 30 overheight trucks per day.
No sustainable economic argument could be made for the expenditure of many tens of millions of euro or the alteration of the design of the tunnel at this stage, with the inevitable delay this would entail to the project, on the basis of such insignificant volumes. - Yours, etc.,
MICHAEL EGAN,
Head of Corporate Affairs,
National Roads Authority,
Dublin 4.