Clare County Council has confirmed that its consultants have completed their investigations at Latoon Creek Bridge, which has been the subject of a weight restriction since late 2015.
The Local Authority said it anticipates that repair work to the bridge, which is located between Newmarket-on-Fergus and Clarecastle on the old Ennis/Limerick road, will begin by late August and will be completed during November.
Designed in 1966, the three-span bridge originally carried the old N18 National Primary Road between Limerick and Galway until the M18 was opened in 2007.
A temporary weight restriction of 3.5 tonnes was introduced at the Bridge in November 2015 after a routine structural investigation identified weaknesses and the need for a load assessment to be carried out to determine the load carrying capacity of the structure.
Tom Tiernan, Senior Engineer, Clare County Council explained, “Due to the complex nature of the construction of the bridge, specialist contractors with experience in investigation of similar structures conducted additional structural investigations, load assessments and sensitivity analysis. The result of their investigations, recently completed, is that the 3.5-tonne weight restriction can now be eased to 18 tonnes. This amended restriction, however, must remain in place until the repairs are carried out.”
“The new restriction will be less onerous than that which has existed up to now. From the time signage indicating the weight restriction change is put in place in the coming days until implementation of the required repairs, vehicles of up to 18 tonnes will be free to use the bridge but those above 18 tonnes such as articulated vehicles, other vehicles facilitated by more than 2 axles, some buses and coaches must not at any time do so because of the associated structural and safety risks.”
Mr. Tiernan noted that the investigations are complete and consultants are in the process of designing the required works.
He said, “The consultants will procure a specialist contractor to carry out the repairs once the design is complete. Design and procurement is expected to be complete by the end of August. The repair work is expected to take 3 months and is hoped to be complete by the end of November 2016, provided there is no delay arising from procuring a contractor.”
“The repair of the existing 50-year-old bridge structure is the most cost effective and least disruptive solution,” said Mr. Tiernan. “The alternative would involve replacement of the bridge deck in its entirety at a significantly escalated cost of over €2.5 million and involving a much more protracted works period.”
“The repair of this bridge, which we hope will be completed by the end of November, will bring about the lifting of the weight restriction. In the meantime, temporary traffic management and associated signage is in place to divert relevant traffic away from the bridge and along the designated diversion routes,” he concluded.