Weight restriction on historic Tipperary bridge 'constantly flouted', council meeting told
Tipperary County Council is to request Gardaí conduct spot checks fn the weight of vehicles crossing the Old Bridge in Carrick-on-Suir after Cllr Kieran Bourke complained about heavy goods vehicles using the historic bridge
Drivers of heavy goods vehicles are constantly ignoring the weight restriction on Carrick-on-Suir's historic Old Bridge, says one of the town's councillors who has pressed Tipperary County Council to re-erect the height restriction barrier on the River Suir crossing.
Cllr Kieran Bourke issued the call to council management at the April meeting of Carrick-on-Suir Municipal District councillors in Carrick-on-Suir Town Hall last Thursday.
The Fianna Fáil councillor said the three tonnes weight restriction on the bridge is constantly being flouted and highlighted how he saw a rigid truck of at least 15 tonnes crossing the bridge.
“I challenged the driver when he stopped at the other side in Carrickbeg. I was told two words, one beginning with f and the other beginning with o,” he recounted.
Cllr Bourke noted the Council used to have a height restriction barrier on the Tipperary side of the bridge, which worked quite well in deterring heavy goods vehicles from crossing.
He called for it to be reinstated for the sake of the bridge, pointing out that local people were very concerned about the condition of its large arch, which was redone after the Civil War. Strangely, the older part of the bridge appeared to be more structurally sound.
“We are the guardians of the bridge and need to do something about it,” he added.
In response, Council Senior Executive Engineer Kieran Malone said he would get the District Engineer Michael Scully to speak to the local Garda superintendent to request Garda spot checks of the bridge for weight restriction compliance as this resolved a similar issue in Nenagh. He said he would have to check out why the height restriction barrier was removed from the bridge.