Clare County Council has expressed its “serious concern” at the extent to which the presently implemented weight restriction on Latoon Creek Bridge on the R458 (Old N18), located 4 kilometres south of Clarecastle is being breached by vehicles of greater than 3.5 tonnes.
The Local Authority is reminding drivers that the weight restriction is in place due to the fact that it has been established through analysis that the structural capacity of the bridge is compromised and cannot reliably accommodate anything other than light vehicles until an extensive remediation programme of works is implemented later this year.
“The Council wishes to avoid having to close the bridge completely to all vehicular traffic but will, regrettably, have to do so if the ongoing restriction breaches continue,” said Tom Tiernan, Senior Engineer.
He continued, “A series of patrols and checks will be implemented by An Garda Síochána in the coming days, in order to enforce the restriction. Following this Clare County Council will review usage and will then take whatever steps are necessary in the interests of safety.”
“While Clare County Council is seeking to keep the bridge open, if vehicles greater than 3.5 tonnes continue to ignore the weight restriction Clare County Council will have no option but to close the bridge to all vehicles until repairs are carried out,” added Mr. Tiernan.
Warning signage regarding the weight restriction is in place indicating that the limit is 3.5 tonnes. All drivers are being reminded that there can be no exception to this.
The weight restriction was first imposed on 12th November 2015. The local authority were forced to remind road users of this already on two occasions in 2016, in January and at the beginning of May.